My Life Is So Over
by overcheatedXdreamer
Summary: girl falls into ME. short lived legomance at the very begining that lasts for about two chapters. 10th walker. not a mary sue.
1. Chapter 1

"Lena! What are you doing? You're going to be late for your bus!" my mother yelled in my ear. I woke up and threw the blankets off of me. Panicked, I looked at the clock and yelled, "Shit!" My mom decided to gracefully ignore this remark and walked out of the room, leaving me with 30 minutes to get ready. I jumped out of bed and worked my way into a pair of vintage destroyed jeans from Hollister and a pink tank top I had gotten from Wal-Mart.

After slipping on a pair of white flip flops and putting on some cover-up, blush and lip gloss, I threw my backpack over my shoulder and scooped up my purse. Dashing out of the house, stopping only once to grab a pop tart from the box on the counter, I ran out of the house. I looked at my cell phone. Good, I thought, 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. I suddenly stopped and smacked my hand against my head. I forgot to let Ami out. I ran back inside and opened up the sliding glass door leading out back. Ami, my huge golden retriever, bounded outside. I tapped my foot and looked at my cell again. Luckily the bus stopped in front of the house and the bus driver was always nice enough to wait for me if I was late, so if Ami looked like she was going to be out there for awhile, I'd just call her back inside and leave a note telling Jay, my little brother, to let her out before he left. And it looked like today was going to be that day.

Ami was tensed up, alert to something in the forest. "Ami," I called, "Come on girl I only have 5 more minutes hurry it up!" I gave an impatient sigh just as Ami took off barking through the woods. Fuck, I thought. I ran after her, yelling her name, but she didn't come back. I stopped at the edge of the woods. I could hear Ami barking still, but I hesitated. Something about the woods always scared me. I guess it's just from watching too many horror movies. But I couldn't bear it if anything happened to her, so I dashed into the woods after her. After a few minutes off running, my back was starting to feel heavy. I hadn't even thought to take off my purse or backpack, and I was freaked out. Nothing looked familiar. To anyone else these woods would've been gorgeous, but I hate them. I couldn't hear Ami anymore. Suddenly I heard people crashing through the woods. Finally! But I couldn't have been more surprised when I saw who it was…


	2. Chapter 2

At first it looked like 3 midgets and a really hot average sized guy. Then suddenly I realized…

"Oh my God! Viggo Mortensen? I am a huge fan of yours! I think I have a piece of paper in here somewhere that you could sign for me," I said as I frantically reached into my backpack. Then I realized: he hadn't said anything to me. I looked up and saw that he was staring at me in the same way you would probably stare at a person struggling inside a straightjacket. I blushed furiously and closed my backpack back up. "Sorry," I muttered. Then something clicked in my head. They were dressed in medieval clothing and carrying very pointy swords, something I couldn't stand a chance against. I swallowed loudly and backed away carefully.

"Stop," Viggo demanded. He stared at me coldly approaching me slowly. He had drawn his sword, and I guess he could see the terrified look on my face because his handsome features softened and he sheathed the sword. "You people are insane," I whispered looking at him and then the midgets, "all of you are completely crazy." Viggo took another few steps toward me, and I made the stupid mistake of trying to run. Unfortunately I was caught off-balance by the weight of my backpack and fell flat on my face. I heard someone laughing and jumped up, furious that they were seeing me so scared and vulnerable. It was totally unfair. A 16 year old girl against 4 men with swords and God knows what else?

Now I'm not saying I thought this was a good idea at the time, but seeing that Viggo was so concerned about me, I took the opportunity to whack him over the head with my purse and make a run for it. I'm pretty fast when I want to be, so I wasn't surprised when I could hear Viggo close behind me, breathing like Ami does whenever she is having an asthma attack. Yes dogs can get asthma. And then it was over. He had leapt at me, taking me down hard. He rolled me over but he wouldn't get off no matter how much I struggled. Still straddling me and holding my writs at either side if my head, he asked me, "Who are you and what are you doing in these lands?"

I gave up and started to sob. He showed no pity and only waited for my response. I honestly thought this crazy; Viggo Mortensen look-alike was going to kill me. So I took this opportunity to tell him, "Bite me, asshole." Viggo repeated the question. It was hopeless, so I told him, "I'm Lena. And I'm in this stupid freaking forest because my stupid dog decided to go temporarily insane and take a nice stroll through here and I had to come after her so I could bring her back in the house and I got lost and I was scared and you came and now your on top of me and please DON'T KILL ME!" I broke out into a fresh wave of tears. Viggo looked very stunned by my outburst and rolled off of me. He stood up and offered me his hand. I waited for a minute until the tears stopped and put my hand in his, still sniffling.

He gently pulled me up and smiled at me. "You are lucky you met us and not a band of Orcs," he told me, smiling kindly," We are only 7 leagues away from Rivendell. If you are lost we will take you with us and I will have Lord Elrond send someone to take you home. My name is Strider, and those three over there are Pippin,"-one of the midgets waved-,"that is Merry,"-another one waved just as enthusiastically-," and that one is Sam." The last one, a chubby little one who had been suspiciously looking at me since I had met them, finally seemed to decide that I wasn't out to get them and smiled as he said, "Hello there, miss."

Now up until this point I was very calm. Until something snapped, "Wait! Sam? Aragorn? And let me guess Frodo got captured by orcs?" I was laughing hysterically. These people had freaking lost it if they thought I was going to buy that. Of course, the other four didn't seem to think it was funny. In fact, they had pulled out the swords again. I stopped laughing immediately. "I told you we should have left her! She could be after Frodo just like those other things!" Sam yelled at Aragorn. "Samwise Gamgee calm down and do not shout at me. The last thing we need is for the riders to hear us if they're still around," Aragorn snapped, glaring at me. I threw my hands up in the air and sarcastically yelled," Yes I'm evil! I've come to slaughter all the Hobbit people and take the ring!"

Huge mistake. There was a lot of yelling and running and suddenly, something smashed against the back of my head and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay so waking up after you've been hit in the head with a huge rock is not fun. In fact, it's even worse when you're bound, gagged, and being carried through the woods on some psycho dude's shoulders. I'll skip through some of the details because as I've said, things can get pretty confusing if you're in my situation. What basically happened after I woke up and everything around me stopped spinning?

Well lifting my head, I saw the three "hobbits" and realized that "Aragorn" must be the one carrying me. Now once again, I was probably brain damaged because even at this point it didn't occur to me if I pissed him off enough he really might kill me this time. Which is why I immediately started thrashing around as hard as I could and screaming at the top of my lungs, which was pretty damn loud considering I had a really nasty tasting bundle of cloth shoved into my mouth. I know it wasn't the smart thing to do, but as we've probably already realized, I don't exactly retain my common sense when I'm majorly stressed. Throwing me down on the ground, "Aragorn" turned around and took the gag out of my mouth. He reached into his pocket and unbottled a small flask and said very calmly, "If you don't be very very quiet, I will knock you out again, and this time it won't only be for an hour. In fact, if I pour this into your mouth, it will be a long time before you wake up again." I promptly stopped screaming.

Nothing like someone threatening you to make you shut up.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked him, my voice trembling. I hated that. The last thing I wanted was for this crazy person to hear how scared I was. "Aragorn" looked me directly in the eye and calmly said, "We are taking you to Lord Elrond. Since you are obviously not well, he will decide what shall be done with you. But we have a friend there who is also very ill and we must move quickly so that we may see him soon."

_I_ am obviously not well? This guy was running through the forest looking like an employee at a Renaissance fair and calling himself Aragorn, and he thought that _I_ was the one that needed to be dumped in a loony bin? I considered telling him this, but I decided it wouldn't do a lot of good. So I just shut up and concentrated on looking at everything but him. "What did you do with all my shit?" I shouted. I struggled to sit up and eventually worked myself into the position, looking around for my purse and backpack. I was going to be totally pissed if these guys had actually mugged me. Then I saw "Pippin" holding my backpack. The other one, "Merry" had been going through my purse, but quickly hid it behind his back when I directed my death glare right at him. "Drop it buddy," I growled. He looked quickly at "Aragorn".

"I told him to," he said. I stared open mouthed at him. Who did this guy think he was? Oh wait. That's right. Aragorn. Before I could say a word, he shoved the rag back into my mouth. It was so foul tasting I thought I was going to throw up. I guess he saw the look on my face because he smirked but he didn't remove the gag. Throwing me back over his shoulder, we continued into the woods. I don't know how long it had been. My cell phone was in my purse and I wasn't very good with time. But soon we reached a huge wall and Aragorn took me off his shoulder and cradled me in his arms the way you see at the end of a lot of the really old romance movies.

It was beautiful, made of a pale white marble that sort of glowed with a yellow light. The woods had cleared out above us and the light was beating down upon us. It was warm, but not suffocating warm. A very nice, breezy warm. The kind of weather you want it to stay like forever. But once again came that crowded, empty feeling the woods have always had for me.

"Um Strider?" Merry called," are you sure this is the way?" Aragorn looked at the hobbit and smiled. Wait no. He is not a hobbit. He is a crazy midget. My God these people had almost had me believing they were actually people from Lord of the Rings. I couldn't let that happen again. "Aragorn" shifted me back over his shoulder. It was starting to get uncomfortable because his shoulder was sort of jabbing me in the stomach. I tried to tell him this but he still wouldn't take the gag out, so I had to deal with it for now. I started to space out so I wasn't really paying attention, until we came to an opening in the wall. Well, actually, they were wooden doors that had already been opened, as if they were expecting us. It looked like there was writing on the doors but I didn't get a very good look. "Aragorn" took me off his shoulder and had me in a cradling position again and took out the gag. Word's couldn't even describe what I was saying. It looked exactly like it did in the movie, except there was one thing the movie didn't describe. The place was utterly calm and peaceful. Everything and everyone in it was filled with a sort of inner glow that radiated strength, wisdom, and beauty. The descriptions in the books didn't do it justice, although I hadn't read the books in about a year so I couldn't quite remember.

Someone stepped up. It was a man. No not a man, an elf! Nononononono! Oh my God it's real. As much as I tried to deny it, everything I was looking at, everything they had been saying, were real! But how did this happen? Why me? I didn't want it to be real, but come on. I mean, what are the chances that hundreds of LOTR fanatics escaped from a mental asylum and built an exact replica of Rivendell in my backyard without anybody noticing?

"HOLY.CRAP." I yelled. I twisted my head as far as I could to look at Aragorn. "You're Aragorn! You really are Aragorn! Oh shit oh shit! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean anything I said!" I might have babbled on like this forever, except the elf that had been talking to Aragorn while I was observing my surroundings, suddenly started to untie me. Aragorn put me down and the elf lifted his bow and arrow to point it at me. He spoke to me, but I didn't understand. I probably looked very confused but hje didn't have any sympathy. "Turn around," he commanded. I did. He poked me with his arrow and once again commanded, "Now walk." I did exactly what he told me and didn't say a word. Especially since I realized there were five more elves following him. I kept my eyes on the ground until we came to a huge castle. The elf that had been talking to Aragorn shouted something to the guards. I didn't even have time to look at the castle, although I did notice that it seemed to be made of the exact same stone as the wall. All of the buildings here seemed to be made of the same type of stone. The arrow in my back reminded me to move again and I continued walking. It might've been ten minutes before they led me down a long flight of steps that looked like they led to a basement. I was wrong. As soon as I got down there, they threw me into a cold stone cell. I tried begging and screaming for them to let me out but all of them except for one had left, and it didn't look like he was budging anytime soon. So I sat down and leaned against the wall, and started counting down there seconds I had until they killed me.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up and looked at the elf that had been keeping guard for the past week. I didn't talk to him, and he didn't try talking to me. He just sat there glaring at me all the time. It was starting to get really annoying so I asked him, "What the hell is your problem?" He was kind of startled that I had talked to him. "I mean seriously," I continued, moving closer to the bars of my little cell," You just sit there all the time staring at me like I'm some kind of monster." The elf's hateful expression grew deeper, if that is possible. " Anybody who obeys a master as evil as your's is a monster," he hissed. Wow. And I thought elves were supposed to be funny little guys with pointy hats and bells on the toes of their shoes. I tried to figure out what that was supposed to mean, until I remembered what I had said to Aragorn in the woods. Jesus I hadn't thought they would take it seriously.

"Look," I said quietly," I didn't mean it. I plead temporary insanity! But I'm innocent! You have to help me get out of here." I put on my best "Look-at-me-I'm-just-an-innocent-little-girl" face and scooted up the rest of the way until my face was up against the bars. It was starting to work. I could see it. At least at first. Until he picked up a wooden rod lying on the ground and hit the bars. "Oh my God," I shouted as the vibrations from the bars went through my head. I had to grab either side of my head and breathe deeply to stop the ringing in my ears. The guard looked very satisfied with himself and leaned back just as another elf came in. It was the same elf that had shoved the arrow into my back, the one that was friends with Aragorn. He had blonde hair past his shoulders and beautiful clear blue eyes. His features were handsome and chiseled and he looked about mid-thirties. He glanced at me before he dragged a chair from one end of the room to where the guard was sitting. He and the guard talked quietly in what I'm guessing was Elvish, because I didn't understand a word they said. I gave them both the dirtiest look I could muster up, given that I was about to cry, and crawled to the farthest corner of the cell. I sniffled and tried hard not to cry but I couldn't help it. I had nothing to do. They wouldn't give me my cell phone, my books, or even my ipod. I sat quietly until I started humming. I had been thinking about the movie Anastasia and I had the song "Once Upon A December" stuck in my head, so when I started humming to myself I didn't think that the elves would actually start paying attention to me, but halfway through the song, I realized the elves had stopped talking and were watching me. Normally I would've been embarrassed and stopped. But they wouldn't have to listen to my singing if they just gave me the ipod, so I continued to hum, looking directly at them. I finished and it was starting to turn into a staring contest between the elves and me. But suddenly my fear of singing in front of people came flooding back and I looked away, completely humiliated. The blonde elf walked over to my cell and unlocked it. I was amazed. "Elladan has given me a report of these past six days," the blonde said gently. Six days? I thought I had been in her for eight days. "I think it is time for you to see Lord Elrond." He walked into the cell to where I was curled up and took my hand, pulling me to my feet. I was still shocked that they were actually letting me out, so I let him lead me up the steps and through different hallways until we came outside. I ran outside, dancing around in circles and laughing. They were letting me go! I was free! I beamed back at the blonde elf and waved, then set off down the path towards the doors. A pair of strong hands gripped my shoulders and turned me around. I was facing the blonde elf, and he was a little too close for comfort. "No," the blonde elf said, shaking his head," First you must talk to Lord Elrond. He will decide if you are set free or not."

A king? I had to talk to the fucking elf king to go home? I must've looked pretty angry, because Blondie shrugged and said, "or you could always go back to the dungeon." My shoulders sagged and I sighed with defeat. I looked at myself, realizing I must look like a crazy person. My jeans were stained from sitting on the floor of the dungeon. My flip flops weren't white anymore and my sweatshirt was still wet from when I had been pacing in the cell and slipped on a puddle of water. I quickly kicked off my flip-flops and hid them under a bush. I threw off my sweatshirt, revealing my blue tank top, which had a few stains but would make a much better impression than a grungy sweatshirt. I licked my finger and brushed it under my eyes and couple of times to try to wipe of any eyeliner that had been smudged.

O duh, wait. I wasn't wearing eyeliner when they kidnapped me. I licked my lips, which had been chapped from their separation with my Burt's Bees chap stick. I ran my fingers through my curly strawberry blonde hair, thanking God that it was wavy curly and not unmanageable frizzy curly. Turning to Blondie I asked," What do you think?' He smiled softly and replied, "Beautiful." I anxiously jiggled my foot and asked after a few minutes, "What's your name?" "Glorfindel," he replied. Suddenly I remembered his name from the book. He hadn't been in the movie, which is why he didn't look familiar, but he was mentioned a lot in the book, sort of Elrond's right hand man I think. Soon, I saw him.

He was walking with my guard, and they looked very similar. They had the same hard, elegant, features, with long dark hair and dark eyes, and pale skin. Not sickly pale. Lord Elrond wore a silver crown of what looked like intertwined leaves and other symbols in his hair and shining white robes. The guard wore green tights and a white long sleeved tunic shirt. He didn't have his bow with him and there was a subtle difference in him. He looked kinder somewhere, more relaxed. And then I realized. The twins, Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond's sons.

Elrohir bowed quickly to his father and brushed past me, murmuring a quick, "I beg your pardon, milady." When Elrohir had left, Elrond turned to me and grinned. "So you are the young lady who has been the cause of so much trouble


	5. Chapter 5

I told him everything. I told him my name, where I lived, about my family, about how I got here. I even repeated every single word that I had said to Aragorn and the Hobbits and everything they had said to me. It's a good thing I have such a good memory. When I was done I sat calmly for a minute and we both sat on the steps of the palace looking at each other before I broke into a new wave of tears. Elrond didn't look surprised and handed me a handkerchief. I wasn't used to people handing me handkerchiefs instead of tissues, so it took me a minute to realize that I had blown snot all over his personal handkerchief. Needless to say, I was totally mortified.

Lord Elrond let me recover for a minute before he said, "I believe your story. But I don't think others will be quite so convinced. You will need to restate this for the Council." "Council?" I asked incredulously, "No way! If you believe me then why can't I leave?" I started sobbing again as I screeched, "I just want to go home." Once again, I got looked at as if I was a rabid animal and Glorfindel moved closer to Lord Elrond. I wanted to tell them to stop acting like I was the psychotic one here, but I knew that there would be no point because no one would listen to me, causing me to sob even harder. Lord Elrond put a hand on my shoulder and I smacked it with the hand that wasn't still holding his handkerchief. "Don't touch me," I hissed at him, jumping up and taking off as fast as I could down the path. I didn't get very far before one of the guards caught me at the exit of the garden. Kicking, biting, doing everything in my power to make him put me down, didn't do any good; so I just lay there, limp in the guard's arms. Lord Elrond looked at me in shock.

Okay I know I was overreacting, but I mean hello! I just wanted to go home! Seriously, how freaking hard is that? And then I realized: I was in a completely different world. I was in a totally alternate dimension.

There was no more home.

I didn't struggle anymore as I realized I had been completely stripped of everything I had known and loved. No more Ami, no more mom, or dad, or Nissi, or Jay, or Alex, or Tony. I was all alone. That's when I decided to stop freaking out and take control of the situation. I had to find some way to get back to my own world. But how?

"You are very upset. You should rest now. My guards will take you to a proper room where you will stay until the day of the Council. After that you are free to leave," Lord Elrond said, placing his hand on my forehead. As he did I felt complete calm. I didn't really want to be stuck here, but there was no way I was going to get back if I kept acting like a fucking lunatic. Besides, he was putting me up in a huge castle! I couldn't really complain too much and so I just stuck to nodding my head and quietly saying thank you. Elrond looked at me awhile longer; probably to make sure I didn't take off again, and then turned to talk with Glorfindel. I sighed loudly and grabbed my flip-flops from behind the bush where I had stuck them and slipped them on my feet, then picked up my grimy sweatshirt from the same spot and tied that around my waist. I heard someone approaching me, and turned around to see Glorfiindel standing there.

Glorfindel took my arm and gently pulled me towards the castle. "Lady Lena, you have had a very trying day and you look quite tired. I will escort you to your room.," he said, then frowned as he looked me up and down," We must see Rana about getting you a proper gown to sleep in. You would not be comfortable resting in such dirty clothes." Rana. Another unfamiliar name. Rana, as it turns out, was one of the chambermaids. She was a beautiful elf, very tall and thin, with the same pale skin that the other elves had, red hair that fell a little past her shoulder and framed a pretty heart shaped face. Her green eyes were the most significant feature of hers. Her eyes, slanted at the sides, were an emerald green with a black lining around the iris, giving her an almost cat-like gaze. She was soft spoken, and I could never imagine her raising her voice above a whisper.

Glorfindel spoke to her in Elvish and gestured towards me. She had been folding towels when we walked in, but as he spoke to her, her eyes got wide and she put down the towels to approach me. "Lady Lena," Glorfindel said as he and the elf came over to me," this is Lady Rana. She is the chambermaid and she will be taking care of you." Rana bowed slightly and smiled. "Hello," I said brightly. Rana looked confused. "She only speaks Elvish," Glorfindel said apologetically. "Oh," I replied," then how do I say hello?" Glorfindel bent down to whisper in my ear. I flashed another big smile at Rana and tried again.

"Saesa omentien lle." Rana laughed softly and beamed at me. Obviously I had had a knack for languages. Feeling very proud of myself, I whispered a quick thanks to Glorfindel and let Rana pull me over to the other side of the room. She was chattering in Elvish and I had no idea what she was saying, but she was nice and had a very pretty voice so I didn't care. Somehow, I think she knew that. She looked at me carefully and went over to a huge wardrobe. It was gigantic and I thought she had gotten lost for a second when she didn't come out right away, but she came back after about 3 minutes, holding a long white gown. It was gorgeous, and it would've made the perfect Halloween costume for Jennifer's Halloween party, which I was probably going to miss, but I wouldn't even dream about sleeping in it!

"Look," I said carefully, not wanting to be rude," this is very beautiful, but I can't wear it." I turned to look at Glorfindel. He raised one eyebrow. "Why not? It doesn't please you?" he asked with a frown. "No it gorgeous!" I said hurriedly," but there is a reason why nobody gives me stuff like this and it's because they all know I'm never on my feet for more than 10 minutes because I always trip on something, and I'm amazed at how lucky I've been lately on that note." Glorfindel laughed and translated this to Rana, who was starting to look very worried at my distress over the dress. She smiled when he translated. I tried to hand back the dress, but she pushed it back at me and asked Glorfindel something in Elvish. He responded and she patted the dress in my arms, saying, "gift for you." She had trouble getting the words out and she messed up some of the sounds, but I understood. I could see there was no point in arguing. Besides, they were right, I couldn't go to bed in clothes that I had been wearing for six days straight. So I politely said, "Thank you," and gave Rana a light hug. She nodded and then crossed the room to continue folding towels. We went through a few more hallways, each one as lavishly decorated as the next, and soon when we were passing through a new hallway I could hear a commotion in one of the rooms. Glorfindel, who was in front of me, tried to urge me on, but I looked back into the room which all the noise was coming from. There was a boy and he looked like he was having a nightmare. He was clutching his shoulder and making all of these pitiful whimpering noises. I would have seen more except Glorfindel closed the door and told me in a very worried tone that we had to move on. When we reached the end of the hallway I looked back to see Lord Elrond and a tall old man in a pointy hat enter the room. The old man made eye contact with me and nodded.

So that was the famous Gandalf the Gray.

I turned around and discovered that Glorfindel had gone on without me and I hurried to catch up with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so apparently one of my readers has a problem with the format of my paragraphs so I decided if it'll make it easier for her then I'll just take her advice.

I woke up to see my bathroom door standing open and Rana in there filling the tub. She turned around when I woke up and I smiled at her.

"Hey," I said.

She looked confused again, but she basically got what I was saying because she managed to say it back. I saw that my dress was hanging on the wardrobe and the slippers and necklace were on the floor underneath. Then I remembered what today was. I groaned and put my head in my hands. I felt like I was going to puke. What if they decided that I wasn't who I said I was? I mean, it is kind of hard to believe some girl from the 21st century fell out of the sky. I looked up when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Lle tyava quel?" Rana asked me, looking concerned.

I didn't understand exactly what she was asking, but I'm pretty good at understanding foreign languages so I figured she was probably asking me if I was okay. I just nodded. She didn't believe me, but she finished up in the bathroom and left with a small bow. Rana and Glorfindel were the only ones that I had talked to since I came here. My stomach grumbled and I realized that in all of the excitement I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning before they had let me out of the dungeon. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep anything down for the next few days but at that moment I was starving. I put on the dress, slippers and necklace and brushed through my curls. I sighed as I looked in the mirror. I was becoming more comfortable with this life with every passing day, and I somehow felt like I was betraying everyone back home by waltzing around in a glamorous dress and going to Councils and staying in palaces. It didn't feel quite right. I opened the door and Glorfindel was there keeping guard. Ever since yesterday afternoon Glorfindel had taken it upon himself to become my escort everywhere, or maybe Elrond had just ordered him to follow me so I wouldn't get into trouble. Either way I was grateful that I had made at least one friend here.

"Hello lirimaer," he greeted me.

"Hi," I asked, "Wait no. How do you say good morning?"

"'Quel amrun," he said.

I nodded and asked if I was allowed to get something to eat.

"Of course," he said, "Just go to the dining hall and choose a place. But for now some urgent business has come up and I must go see the other gaurds."

I was surprised. He hadn't left my side since yesterday, so I didn't think he would leave, especially on today of all days. But I was too tired to question him any further so I just shrugged and made my way to the dining hall. I have no idea how I can forget everything in like 10 minutes, yet I can still manage to find the dining room without any assistance. I got to the dining room and saw three seats open. One was near Legolas and some other important looking elves. Unlike the elves here that seemed to prefer white and yellow and blue, Legolas and the elves with him looked like Robin Hood, dressed in all browns and greens. Then I remembered reading something in the first book. They were forest elves. I didn't know the difference between the forest elves and the Rivendell elves considering the Rivendell elves also lived in the forest, but it was the morning, and I was hungry and still not quite awake so I didn't think about it too much. The other seat open was next to a female elf with long, dark brown hair and eyes. She looked a lot like the twins and I recognized her immediately as Arwen. Then the other seat was near the hobbits. I hated this. It was like on the first day of school when you were trying to figure out where you should sit because you don't know a single other person in your lunch shift. Of course, it didn't help that everyone had gone completely silent when I walked in. Of course, I decided to sit next to the hobbits when I saw Merry and Pippin trying to wave me over. I laughed and walked over to them.

"Hello there Lady Lena," Pippin cried cheerfully, "I hope you slept well."

Merry and the other hobbits smirked.

"Hiya Pippin. I slept fine. So I see I've gotten pretty popular with the locals," I said as I looked around. Many of the elves were still watching me.

I decided that they could all go screw themselves and I started on my plate of food which an elf I remembered seeing in the kitchens brought out to me as soon as I sat down. As I was eating I noticed Frodo next to me who seemed to be the most subdued hobbit of the bunch.

"Does your shoulder still hurt?" I asked him.

He was startled, and I remembered I wasn't supposed to know about the Black Riders or about his stab wound. Oops.

"How-" he started, but I interrupted him. Aragorn and Gandalf had heard and were looking at me in shock. I was almost done so I decided it was time to make my escape.

"Oh my God look at the time! Well I have to go. I tried to get up but considering I was sitting on a bench, not a chair, it wasn't a good idea because the dress got in the way when I was trying to step over the bench and I ended up falling. I could hear laughing at the end of the table and when I got up I saw the forest elves almost bent over laughing. I pulled back my shoulders, and, face burning; I walked quickly out of the room. Not quick enough though. As soon as I was out I heard someone behind me. I turned around and Aragorn was standing there. He looked pissed, probably because Elrond had assured him that I was innocent and then I had suddenly seemed to know all about Frodo's little incident.

"How did you know about his shoulder," he growled at me.

"Uh…well…" I stammered.

I couldn't think of an answer and Aragorn was starting to scare me.

"In the woods. You knew about Frodo and the ring and Sauron," he said as he searched my face, "You might have tricked Elrond but you cannot fool me. Now tell me who you really are."

I couldn't think of a short, simple answer that he would believe, and thankfully I was spared from answering when I heard Glorfindel's voice.

"All those who have been summoned to the Council shall now go take their rightful places."

Everyone at the table stood except Arwen and another female elf. They all walked past Aragorn and me. Aragorn grabbed Mary, Pippin and Sam as they were trying to sneak by.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Just going out for a bit of a walk Mister Strider sir," Sam replied nervously.

Aragorn smiled and leaned down and said quietly to the hobbit," Try not to get caught, all right?"

He laughed as the Hobbits went scurrying down the hallway. Aragorn gave me another hard look and walked away. Wow this dude hated me a lot. Glorfindel and four other guards approached me when he had left.

" Lirimaer," he began, although I already knew what was coming, "I have orders that you are not allowed into the Council until you have been summoned by Lord Elrond."

I realized then that the guards had formed a small circle around me and Glorfindel was at the very front.

"Follow me," Glorfindel said.

I didn't really have much of a choice considering if I didn't move I'd be trampled on by the guards behind me. We came to a pair of large wooden doors with little carvings in them. I wanted to ask what they meant, but my mouth was dry and all that came out was a squeaking sound. I closed my eyes and waited for the longest time. I thought of everything except the Council, and I remembered my mom. I was probably about 3 but I remember her singing to me as I lay in bed at night. It was when she was still happy. She stopped singing after my father left her for Nissa.

"Hush little baby don't say a word," I sang under my breath. I kept on singing. I guess the guards felt sorry for me because they didn't say anything. And then the doors opened and another guard spoke with Glorfindel. He turned around and shouted the same orders to the other elves, and he motioned me forward. I stepped out into the Council and everyone was watching me.

"Quel marth, lirimaer," Glorfindel said quietly as the door closed behind us. Glorfindel went to stand next to Lord Elrond's chair.

I looked around at the faces before me.

Showtime.


	7. Chapter 7

Lord Elrond gestured for me to come to him. I went over and tried to curtsy, but like I said, I'm not graceful, so I ended up tripping over my own feet. Glorfindel predicted this and reached out an arm to grab me.

"Thank you," I said, blushing furiously.

I could hear choked laughter coming from the bushes and I smiled at Merry and Pippin's pitiful attempts to be sneaky. I think Lord Elrond heard but he didn't care too much.

I decided on just a bow instead and folded my arms in front of me. But then I decided it made me look hostile, so I put one hand on my hip and the other hand at my side, but that made me look like I had an attitude problem, so I just clasped my hands behind my back. Lord Elrond raised one eyebrow.

"Are you quite finished?" he asked me.

"Yes," I muttered, growing even redder.

More of the choked laughter could be heard from the bushes and soon I was having trouble not laughing. Lord Elrond looked at me for a moment longer.

"Lirimaer?" he asked, turning to Glorfindel. Glorfindel only shrugged. Elrond turned back and studied me a moment longer.

"Yes I se that is apparent, but that is not what she is being judged on."

"Excuse me," I asked before I could stop myself, "but what does lirimaer mean exactly?"

"It means," he began, shooting an amused look at Glorfindel, who blushed slightly and refused to look at me, " 'beauty that only poetry can capture'."

I glanced at Glorfindel but didn't say anything. Elrond stood and addressed the entire circle.

"We have all heard each other's stories. We all know why we are here. But this young lady, she has been brought here for crimes against the free people of Middle Earth."

I flinched as I heard the gasps. Frodo looked at me with wide blue eyes and shot a panicked look at the ring, which I hadn't noticed before was sitting on a stone altar. I looked at it, and I guess that only made everyone more nervous. And then I heard it: the ring was whispering! I couldn't understand the language, but I knew it was a form of Elvish that originated it Mordor. I stepped away from the ring. It was really creepy and I couldn't look at it. Everyone watched me, perhaps fascinated that I was the only person in the room that was repulsed by the ring.

"Lena, I would like you to tell everyone what you told me yesterday," Lord Elrond said quietly. He took his seat again, and I took a deep breath. My story rushed out of me. When I was done I turned around.

Aragorn drew in a sharp breath and softly said, "She is lying."

"No I'm not!" I cried indignantly. God he was so smug. "Someone bring me my bags. All of my proof is in my bags."

"Then how did you know about the ring? How did you know about Frodo's shoulder?" he asked.

Aragorn was angry. Beyond angry. He knew I was hiding something and I couldn't stop myself from doing what I did next.

"Because this isn't real!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air. "You want to know the truth? Because in my world none of this is real! In my world, all of you stupid people are just fictional characters in books and movies that people read for their own amusement. In my world there is no War of the Ring, there is no Fellowship!"

I was crazed now and everyone knew it but I kept no going.

"There is no Gandalf no Frodo no Elrond! Nothing about this is real to me!" I finished. Then I grabbed either side of my head and whispered, "Oh my God I'm going to need some serious therapy when I get home."

Nobody knew how to respond.

After a few minuets, I had calmed down and spoke softly, "I think I know how I got here."

Nobody replied, so I kept going.

" I read about something called a wormhole. It's a rip in time, a portal between two completely different worlds. It's nothing obvious like a huge gaping hole floating in the air, you can't see it, and most of the time if you ever get back you can never get through it again because it just disappears. You can't see it or feel it, so you never know when you've stepped in or out of one. There was probably one in the woods and I ran through it when I was trying to get Ami, and that's how I got dropped into your world."

Everyone sat trying to process this information. The forest elves were conferring with each other. One look at the dwarves told me they thought I full of crap, Aragorn, Borimir and the other human representatives were staring with their mouths hanging open. Only Elrond didn't look surprised in the least.

"I think the girl's explanation makes sense," Elrond said finally looking intently at me.

"Oh thank you Jesus!" I cried. I was ecstatic. Elrond was powerful. If he believed me, who would dare to stand up to him? My question was answered when Borimir stood up.

"My Lord I beg of you this is mad! She has no proof of this and therefore we have no reason to trust her."

What a little bitch! I stood open-mouthed at him. He seemed satisfied with himself until he saw that slow smile start to show itself on my face. Then he had the good sense to back away from me.

Okay first of all," I started, taking a step towards him, "sit your ass down right now." He didn't move so I barked, "Sit!" He did so and I went on, staring him straight in the eye. I was dead serious and I wasn't smiling anymore. " Second of all, if someone would get me my freaking backpack then I could show you the proof. Unfortunately it doesn't look like that's going to be happening soon. Third, I'm not the one they should be worried about. You shouldn't be allowed within 1000 ft of this poor little hobbit or the ring! So don't tell me that I can't be trusted because I know exactly what's going to happen! I've read the books and seen the movies and I know how much you want that ring!" I finished quietly.

I could tell he was shocked and Elrond looked very concerned by what I had just revealed.

"We must discuss all that you have said. Adanion will take you back to your room. I will ask you to wait there and I will call you back before the meeting is adjourned to inform you of your fate," Lord Elrond said.

His face and voice revealed nothing as a tall, black haired elf came and led me out of the Council. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had insulted him. I had completely embarrassed myself in front of them all. I was a dead woman walking. I walked beside Adanion but I never said a word to him. I could see that he glanced at me as if he wanted to say something but he never asked. I was scared shitless of whatever the Council would decide so I wasn't concerned enough to find out what he wanted to say so when we got to my door I just went in and closed it without even looking at him. My purse and backpack were on the floor. I shed my dress and opened my backpack. I had forgotten to bring my duffel bag with me to school last week, so after dance practice I had just had to shove all my stuff inside my backpack. So I did what I do in any stressful situation. I put on my black cami, dance shoes, and leggings and turned on my ipod. I found "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls on the ipod and started dancing. I had been taking hip-hop classes for about 5 years and I had an upcoming routine in 2 months. I had a solo so I practiced like crazy lately. After awhile my started to ache from not stretching, but it felt good and I didn't stop. I pulled out the chair at the right part in the song and started on the solo. When I got to the part of the song where they played the middle eastern music and me and the other girls had to do part of a belly dancing routine I could feel someone watching me and turned around. The guards were, needless to say, shocked. But I just laughed.

"L-L-L-Lord Elrond has summoned you," the elf stuttered.

"Fine," I said and brushed out into the hall. It was most likely very inappropriate for me to be walking around like this, especially since I was still dancing to the music in my ipod, but I didn't care one bit. I opened the door when I got in there. I could tell they saw a big difference, and everyone's eyes went wide. I had been so subdued before that they probably thought I'd been replaced with some kind of wild clone. I knew what I looked like. The black cami had hidden under wire, which gave extra lift to my otherwise nonexistent bust. It hugged my body tightly, making me look even more slender than I really am. The leggings clung to my legs, which were a good thing since they were firm and muscled from dancing for so long. They were also incredibly long for someone as short as me. My dance shoes forced, out of habit, me to walk with the proper posture that was required of every dancer. My strawberry blonde curls were damp and wild and my tan was quite noticeable. So I couldn't help it if I felt more than a little confidant when I walked into the room.

"Yea?" I asked. I didn't bow this time.

Lord Elrond seemed to pull himself together. I looked and saw the Fellowship in a little group. And then something caught my attention.

"No way! Even after I warned you you're still going to let him be part of the Fellowship," I cried, pointing at Borimir. He was looking at me like "I –told-you-so". Then I realized what it might mean that they didn't believe me. I swallowed hard and looked at Lord Elrond. I knew what was coming.

"You know the fate of the ring?" he asked me.

"Yes." I said slowly.

He looked at me carefully before responding, "You will go with the Fellowship. Make sure the ring takes the journey that it is supposed to."

"What? No!" I cried, "Look I can't fight and I'm not strong and I'm not brave! I'm not cut out for the going to Mordor to destroy the ring!" It got quiet again. Oops. I wasn't supposed to know about the plan.

"It's decided," he said carefully, "You will go with the Fellowship. Protect the ring since you seem to be immune to its trickery."

"And if I don't," I replied stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest.

He raised his eyebrows. There was no arguing with him. I was going and there was no other choice. I looked at the Fellowship and they were trying very hard not to look at me, though Merry and Pippin weren't trying to hide their stares.

"Fine," I said. I held up the ipod and found "hit me with your best shot" by Joan Jett and hit play. Then with a final wave I went out the door, singing to myself.

"Hit me with your best shot! Why don't ya hit me with your best hot! Hit me with your best shot and fire awaaay!"


	8. Chapter 8

Okay so I'm just warning you all that from this chapter on there might be a legomance starting. I know it's corny, but it's my story and I can do whatever I want. Sticks tongue out at reader

I ran to my room and threw myself onto my bed. I sobbed for what seemed like hours, and then I rolled over and studied my surroundings. When I first got here I thought everything was so beautiful. The walls were a very pale green that sparkled just like the doors wherever the sun fell on them, making me feel like I was in a fairyland. There were no windows, only a big space missing from the farthest wall, beyond which was a balcony, made of the same stone the palace was made of, as were the floors. There was a scarlet rug with golden figures of elves and men and goblins, scenes of forests and glimmering cities. In our world, it would've been priceless, not only because of how beautiful it was, but the pictures started to move if you stared at them long enough! The bed was circular shaped with a golden comforter and the softest white sheets, pillows and mattress. Over it, hanging from the ceiling, was a thin filmy white cloth that sparkled like, well, like everything in the room. Even the gold and white marble vanity near the boors and the gold and marble wardrobe seemed to sparkle. I could try to describe more about it but it wouldn't matter because the most incredible thing about the room wasn't how pretty it was, but the way you felt inside it, like it was your own little place in time and nothing could hurt you. Basically, you would have to be in my place right now to know exactly the feeling that this room gave you. Not anymore, though. Now I was filled with hate for everything around me. I wanted to burn the entire room, no the entire city! I started to cry again and didn't look up until I heard a knock on my open doors. Gandalf stood in my doorway, looking quite sympathetic.

"May I come in?" he asked hesitantly.

I let out a short laugh and started to cry again. "Whatever I don't care. It's not like it's my house, or my room, or my own freaking universe."

Gandalf came in and pulled up my vanity chair. He sat in it slowly and laid his walking stick against the wall. He waited until I stopped crying.

"Child," he said gently, " You do not need to be frightened."

"Really? I'm no warrior. I'm afraid of the tiniest little things. I can't stand walking for days in harsh weather and I'm totally clumsy! Why the hell shouldn't I be worried? The man is sending me to my death!" I screamed.

"Do you really think he would do that? Do you really think he would send you along with us if he thought you wouldn't make it?" he asked as if I were a five-year-old who was too scared to go to the dentist.

"Umm let me think…YES!" Did Gandalf really think she would be able to make it more than three days out there? Gandalf watched her intently before replying. He seemed to do that a lot. Think first, talk later. Observe who and what you're speaking to before you make the commitment of maybe actually talking to somebody and getting to know them. In my world that is exactly why I don't have friends. Of course, since I've been here, I've had no problem saying whatever the hell is on my mind.

"None of us really believe we have the strength or courage to do this. We are all afraid of what may happen to us on the journey to Mordor and we are afraid of what may happen if we fail. But the Fellowship was chosen wisely and everyone will do his or her part trying to help protect the ring until the time comes when it must be destroyed. Lord Elrond obviously thinks that you have yet to play a role in the ring's return to Mount Doom, and that is why you are coming with us."

"All the world is a stage and we all play a part," I whispered. I never actually thought something from drama class would actually relate to me. Gandalf was confused but he chose not to respond to that.

"We leave February, when it will be warmer out and we do not stand a chance of freezing to death," Gandalf said as he stood up. He smiled at me and tipped his tall pointed hat. "Good day to you, milady."

"Bye Gandalf. Thanks."

He left the room just as Rana was coming in. She had my clothes from yesterday all washed.

" 'Quel re, Lena." She was beaming and I had no idea what she could possibly be so happy about, but I soon found out when she set my clothes on top of the vanity, and then stood in front of the wardrobe. She waited for a minute, I guess to build my suspense or something, but I honestly didn't have time for this, but she motioned for me to stay and pulled open the wardrobe. While I had been at the Council she had put four dresses into the wardrobe, all my size. She even had corsets for each one. I picked out a long lavender gown. The sleeves were long and wide, but the dress fitted my entire upper body, although it looked like I was really going to have to suck it in if I wanted to get into the dress. I noticed the silver corset and thought about how sad it was when you were 100 pounds and you still had to suck in whatever gut you have just to fit into a dress. The neckline went across and not V-neck, and it was cut dangerously low that if I'd been bigger than a B cup I would've been in danger of knocking out anyone within five feet. It was gorgeous.

"Oh wow it's so pretty! Thanks Rana maybe I'll tell them to put me in this dress for my funeral!" I said sarcastically. She had no idea what I'd said and clapped her hands excitedly. She probably thought I was ecstatic about it, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I officially hated anything to do with Middle Earth. I looked at her. Rana was such a good friend. We couldn't understand each other most of the time, but we you didn't need to talk to people like Rana. Just being around them was enough.

"Diola lle," I said.

"Lle creoso," she replied. She threw her head back and laughed, then walked out of the room. I looked through the rest of the dresses. One was white with a periwinkle vest/corset that went over it. The other was pink and looked heavier than the others, making me think that it was a winter robe most likely. And then I saw an outfit that wasn't a dress. It was a white, long-sleeved shirt. It came with dark blue tights and a light blue vest. It was all very form fitting and there were white boots that came up to my knees. Elvish clothes for the journey to Mordor. They were very nice and looked a lot less hazardous than the gowns with the long trains which I could easily trip over, and probably would, given the fact that I'm only graceful when I'm in my dance clothes. Take away my dance shoes, and it's like dumping a three year old without floaters into the deep end of the swimming pool. I quickly put on the Elvish outfit and looked at myself in the mirror. It still didn't look quite right so I pulled my hair half back like the elves here did. Much better. The blue and white looked very good on me, bringing out my dark complexion that I had inherited from my Italian father, but my strawberry blonde curls were all my mother's doing. The only thing I didn't inherit from either of them were my eyes, gray with flecks of blue and silver in them. I've never seen anyone with eyes like mine and I'm very proud of that. I walked out the door. For once, Glorfindel wasn't standing guard, probably embarrassed about earlier. The person I saw standing outside my door was Aragorn.

"You realize you are the fourth person to come visit me since this morning," I told him.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you earlier. It was not right and I understand that you are quite upset about the Council and I should not have made you even more upset," he said quietly, hanging his head.

"It's all right," I said smiling, "I had actually forgotten about that. I'm more upset that I haven to be traveling with Borimir. You I could handle. But journeying with Borimir just might drive me to shoved one of Legolas' arrows through my back." He laughed at that and looked down the hall. Arwen was coming out of one of the rooms. They looked at each other for a long moment, and then she walked away.

"Are you going to miss her?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, still staring at where she had been standing, "very much." He seemed to snap out of it and bowed to me. "Good day, milady."

"'Quel re, Aragorn," I bowed back. I straightened up and smiled very proud of myself. Aragorn smiled back and headed off towards the hallways that Arwen had disappeared into. I decided to find Glorfindel, but when I found him the other elves smirked and started teasing Glorfindel in Elvish, calling "lirimaer" the entire time. I decided to put the poor guy out of his misery and said a quick goodbye. I decided to just stay in my room. Pippin passed me on the way and asked if I would watch him while he practiced his sword fighting with Aragorn, but I told him I was tired and I would watch him tomorrow. I also passed Legolas with two other evles. He stopped when he saw me and so did i. He looked me up and down and smiled at my elvish attire.

"Quel esta, lady Lena," he said with a gracious bow, eyes still on me.

"Lissenen ar' maska'lalaith tenna' lye, Heru en amin," I bowed back, and headed to my room.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay everyone so I've decided that there will be a short-lived legomance in the story, so if you have a problem with that then you really should stop reading now.

It had been seven days since the Council had decided. We would be leaving in February when the weather started to warm up, which means we were all going to be here for another four months. Rana had taken to leaving only the guys standard uniform of shirt, vest, tights, and boots, although she did leave the lavender dress with the matching slippers, jewelry and corset in the closet in case I changed my mind. It's not that I didn't love the dresses she brought. They were gorgeous, but after 2 days I realized I wouldn't be able to move in the dresses unless I was okay with breaking my neck when I tripped over the hem. So I stuck with the tights. I occasionally wore my outfit from when I had first come here, but to tell the truth I love the way the elf clothing way tightly fitted to my body, yet not so tight that I couldn't breathe. Now it may sound like I was totally cool with this now, but seriously the clothing was the only thing I was okay with. I still wouldn't talk to anybody except Rana, and maybe the hobbits when I saw them, but I mostly stayed in my room and cried. When I did leave the room, I made sure I had my headphones with me, turned up all the way so as to clearly everyone that passed that I did not want to or need to talk to them. Lord Elrond had tried to talk to me the day after the Council but I just stared past him and he eventually gave up on trying to get me to forgive him. Borimir I made sure to avoid completely and thankfully he felt the same dislike for me, so we made sure to see each other as less as possible. Aragorn and Gandalf and the gruff little dwarf, Gimli, all nodded to me if I passed them in the hallways, but I never stopped to speak to them. Legolas I saw almost every day, and he was always with at least two other elves. I guess when you're a traveling prince you need top security. But we always stopped for each other. We exchanged the same words every morning.

"Nae saian luume', Lirimaer" he said with a bow and a small smile.

I assumed he was making fun of me since some of the other guards had taken to calling me that whenever I was around Glorfindel. Most of the time, though, they did it when I was alone and Glorfindel wasn't around to threaten them in Elvish. I didn't know any Elvish except "Good day" so it wasn't like I could defend myself, although they laughed hysterically the first time I tried. I have no idea what I said, but I decided I would never ask Rana to teach me Elvish ever again. I just stuck to ignoring their comments, although I hadn't expected Legolas to take up calling me that. It just didn't seem like he had a very good sense of humor. Obviously I was wrong, so I just muttered hello and scurried away without looking back. So much for trying to maintain my dignity.

Later on that day at dinner, or supper, as they called it here, I asked Glorfindel how to say handsome.

"Beinion," he replied. Then he looked at me suspiciously and asked, "Why?"

"No reason. I have to go. I'm very tired." I finished the last bite off my food and hopped off the bench. God it was so much easier to do this in tights than in those dresses Rana brought to me.

"All right. Quel kaima lirimaer," he called as I walked away.

"Quel kaima Glorfindel," I called back with a wave.

The next morning, I got out of bed and looked at the outfit Rana had hung on the wardrobe for me. White leggings, white shirt, and a shiny pink and gold vest. Very nice. My boots were also white as always. I brushed my hair and decided that I didn't feel like putting it back, so I just put on some lip-gloss from my purse and ran out of the room. I was going to see the town for the first time, so I didn't bring the ipod. Unfortunately I was running so fast I plowed over Legolas as he was rounding a corner.

"Oh my God I am so sorry! I didn't see you there at all!" I exclaimed as I jumped off of him, and then helped him up. Thankfully, he laughed as soon as I pulled him up.

"And where are you off to in such a hurry?" he asked.

"I-I-I umm… just going into town?" I finished lamely. Of course he was even more amused by that. Apparently, so were the elves behind him.

"I have to go like now," I said.

"Nae saian luume', Lirimaer" he said with a bow and smiled mischievously.

"Quel re, Beinion" I said back wickedly, bowing deeply. He laughed and we went our separate ways. From that morning on, we greeted each other the same way.

"Nae saian luume', Lirimaer."

"Quel re, Beinion."

Aside from these little exchanges every day, I didn't talk and I was starting to go crazy. I was in the bathtub one morning and I realized that I had been thinking out loud. I can't not talk to people. I just can't. Which is why poor Glorfindel had to suffer the duty of being my temporary friend, my only temporary friend. I say poor Glorfindel because people who know me really well know that the more people I have to talk to, the less I have to say. But if there's only one person I'm able to talk to, that persons ears are probably going to fall off.

I was walking through the gardens one day when I saw Arwen. She was sitting on a stone bench and reading a book, but looked up when she heard me.

"Hello," she said pleasantly, "You are Lena?"

"Yea hi. You're Arwen right?"

"Yes."

I didn't know what else to say so I asked what she was reading.

"The story of the Noldor's return to Middle Earth," she said as she held up the cover.

"Oh! The Deep Elves led by the god Finwe! The Noldor speak Quenyan don't they?" I asked. I had recently red the Silmariallion, but that part of the book hadn't particularly interested me, so I didn't remember very much of it. She raised her eyebrows, so I told her that I had read a book about the Noldor's return but I hadn't really understood it. She smiled and started to explain about the journey and their eventual return to Aman. Soon we got to talking about other things and after a couple of hours we went in for dinner. I saw Legolas on the way and we bowed to each other but we did not talk. Our exchanging of words happened only once a day and we both seemed fine with that.


	10. Chapter 10

After Arwen and I walked into the room it got noticeably quieter. I didn't see Glorfindel there and I started to panic, but Arwen grabbed my arm and pulled me over to a seat near Aragorn and Borimir. Both men were sitting with the forest elves, and all of the men stood as Arwen and I prepared to take our seats. As soon as we sat, the rest of the men followed suit. Legolas kept his eyes trained on me, glancing away briefly to say hello to Arwen.

"Lady Lena, you are looking quite well. I hope you were having a nice time in the village," he said with a smile. I blushed when I remembered how I had nearly killed him in the hallway this morning. Arwen and Aragorn exchanged bemused glances while they watched us.

" I actually never went," I said.

"And why not? You seemed to be in quite a hurry this morning," Legolas said.

"Yea sorry about that. But I ran into Arwen when I was cutting through the gardens and we ended up having a very interesting conversation about the Noldor," I explained.

"Really?" he laughed. "I hope you did not run into her too hard." His eyes shined when he said this and he was beaming. I grinned back and the other people at the table were staring hard at us as if trying to figure out what we knew that they didn't.

"Well, you would have to ask the princess that," I replied.

" So you have time for legends of the Noldor but you could not spare a few moments to have a conversation with me?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.

"If it will get me away from you quicker," I teased back. He actually did seem to be sort of hurt about that, so I laughed to let him know that I was only joking. Apparently I was forgiven because his face lit up and he continued to smile widely at me.

"The young lady has a sense of humor," Aragorn said with a smile, "You would do well to teach him about that Lena."

"I don't think so. He's doing just fine without my help," I said. An elf next to me with blonde hair just below his shoulders and green eyes nudged me.

"Only because he is trying to impress you," he said and smirked at Legolas. Legolas' normally pale face became tinted with red and I could feel my own face burning too. Everyone laughed except us, so I took a long drink of ale to keep myself busy and started to eat. In Rivendell, the portions of food they gave were tiny, but I still felt totally full when I was done. Sometimes I was too stuffed to even finish the meal. I took two bites and looked up to realize that I had completely spaced out and I didn't know what anyone was talking about. Aragorn, Legolas, and Arwen were having some conversation in Elvish, the forest Elves were discussing which areas of the forest were the best for hunting. That only left me with Borimir, who was eating and very carefully not talking to me. I had broken our unspoken agreement to stay away from each other as much as possible, so I was surprised when he actually spoke to me.

" I know why you didn't want me to be in the Fellowship. You think I'm going to hurt the hobbit."

"No you wont, but you'll try," I said. Neither of us looked at each other and we worked at keeping our voices neutral so we wouldn't attract attention.

"I would never."

"You don't want to, but you are willing to do anything you can to try to get the ring. You want to return home as the hero, the golden son. Daddy would be proud wouldn't he?" I struck very close to home because he threw down his fork and walked out of the room. I still had my eyes on my plate. I didn't feel bad about what I'd done, although I was pretty scared of what he would try to do when we were traveling and away from Rivendell. Not that he had ever tried to hurt me before, but still, I lived in DC. You'd have to be insane to insult someone and assume that they won't try to jump you after school the next day. It's local paranoia, and there's good reason for that paranoia if you knew anything about DC. Everyone at the table was looking at me afterwards. I just shrugged and let them think what they wanted to think. Only Aragorn didn't stop watching me. He knew what happened, it was obvious, but he didn't comment on it, and I got up to leave. Legolas also jumped up.

"Lady Lena," he said, "Please allow me to escort you to your room."

"Oh well, okay whatever I guess. You don't have to though."

"It isn't proper for a young lady to walk around unescorted," he said with a smile and we left the room. Borimir was staring out a window at the end of the hall, and shot me a death look when he saw me and Legolas coming out of the dining room. I ignored him, although Legolas didn't give up very quickly.

"What did you say to him?" he asked.

"Nothing that he didn't already know," I said quickly. He was quiet for a minute, but the silence was uncomfortable.

"You live in Mirkwood right?" I asked.

"Yes. It's quite beautiful."

"More beautiful than Rivendell?" I wondered.

"It feels more like home. Rivendell is quite decadent, there is no doubt about that, but such splendor does not matter to me. Our palaces in the trees, though nowhere near as ornamental as this, are comfortable and we live in peace. We hunt for our food and live by our own labors. Rivendell is more involved in the outside world than my father's kingdom is."

"It sounds incredible," I said.

"Yes. You must come and see it. My father has more than enough room to spare for such lovely visitors."

I blushed and I could've sworn he did too. He hadn't sounded like it was anything special. It was like when you met someone for the first time and you both agreed that you should hang out again soon, but in reality you knew you were never going to see him or her again. But still.

"I don't know. I'll probably be home by then. In fact, I have a feeling that I'll be going back home very soon." Did he look disappointed? Rana was coming out one of the room with a woven basket of sheets.

"Quel' undome," she said, bowing slightly, "Mani naa lle umien?" she asked, peering suspiciously at Legolas, and then back at me.

"Amin hiraetha," I replied. And then I looked at her widened eyes and I glanced at Legolas.

"Hiraetha?" she asked, surprised. Oh God wait! I told her I was going to bed, but she thought Legolas was coming too!

"No no no not him! Just me I meant," pointing at Legolas and shaking my head. A nearby guard was smiling with amusement. Legolas looked mortified. Well I guess I can kiss that offer of visiting Mirkwood goodbye. Rana only smiled bigger and rolled her eyes. Jesus this was a nightmare.

"A!" she said softly, "Quel kaima, mellonamin." She laughed and bowed again to Legolas, then walked down the hallway. I waited until she turned the corner to look at Legolas.

"Yea um…sorry about that. Look I can make it the rest of the way on my own."

"No," he said. He still wasn't looking at me, and his cheeks still had a reddish tint to them. "I offered to escort you to your room, so I will escort you all the way to the door."

We didn't talk at all on the way back, and when we got to the room I unlocked the door and went in. Rana had lit the logs in the marble fireplace near the bathroom door, and she had also set smaller candles all around the room, so it wasn't very dark. I turned to Legolas. He was standing in the doorway, studying the room.

"It is very nice in here," he said.

"Yeah it is. You can come in if you want. I don't care." He actually looked kind of shocked when I said that, before I remembered that in Middle Earth women weren't even allowed to walk around without one or two escorts. And it was defiantly off limits to invite guys to look at your bedroom. I just never saw the big deal. If you were actually planning to do something with the guy, then it was not a good idea to let some dude in your room, but that wasn't what I was thinking about most of the time, so I just never really thought that he would take it like **that**.

"Oh my gosh I'm sorry that must have sounded totally slutty. It just never seemed like such a huge deal to me." He walked hesitantly into the room, hovering near the door.

"You can go, if you want." He seemed relieved and stepped closer into the room. He bowed and took my right hand in his. He didn't kiss it or anything like in the old movies, but to me it was even better. I studied his face. He looked almost exactly like Orlando Bloom, with only a few subtle differences. His hair wasn't quite as long as the wig Orlando had to wear, Legolas' eyes were much bluer than in them movie. They practically glowed for God's sake! His face was rounder, giving him a softer look than the usually stern expression he had in the movies. He was also way taller. I could swear that all the elves here are at least 6'2 or taller, because the guy literally towered over me. He also had a way better sense of humor.

"Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au'" he said and smiled. What did he say? He left with another bow and I decided that it **really** didn't matter. Rana came five minutes later.

"Mani marte?" she asked, perching on the edge of my bed and leaning in. I didn't know how to answer but she was probably asking about Legolas, so just grinned and shrugged my shoulders. She laughed and covered her mouth in surprise and we both squealed excitedly and hugged each other.

"Quel kaima," she whispered, and rushed out, closing the doors behind her.

Maybe this long journey won't be so bad after all if Legolas would stop being such a gentleman for a few minutes….


	11. Chapter 11

So a month has passed since I've been here and it's almost Christmas time. Unfortunately people here don't know what the hell Christmas is, which made me even more depressed than usual. I wondered what my family was doing right now. Mom would be knocked out on the couch with a bottle of bacardi. She usually was. She isn't an alcoholic, but Christmas always reminds her of Dad leaving, so it's the only day of the year when she gets shit faced drunk, and every year she would cry about how much he missed him and how much she wanted him back. Now she would be crying for another person in her life that had left her alone. My mother and I are best friends and I was the only reason she didn't just give up and walk away from my brothers and I. It wasn't fair to put that kind of pressure on someone, especially your own kid. When Glorfindel came to my room to escort me to dinner, he found me sobbing facedown on my pillow.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. I thought about telling him, but decided that maybe it was better if I didn't get him involvement in my family issues.

"Nothing," I lied, wiping my cheeks. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. It was obvious I was lying to him, but he knew that I wouldn't lie to him unless I had a very good excuse, so he didn't push the issue.

"Come lirimaer." I glanced at my cell phone, which was laying on the vanity. I couldn't call anyone on it because cell phones were obviously not invented in Middle Earth, but I could still turn it on. I kept it off most of the time, but I turned it on every now and then to look at the time. It was 5:00. Everyone usually ate at 6:30. This was getting weirder and weirder. Everyday I was escorted by either Legolas or Glorfindel. I'd tried hiding in the garden and then sneaking into the dining room after everyone went in to eat, but then I would find them both at the entrance, yelling in Elvish and giving each other the death glare. Only when they saw me would they shut up and put on happy faces. I appreciated that I was getting so much attention, but even I know where to draw the line. As much as I loved the fact that two amazingly hot elves were fighting over me, I knew I had to choose one of them or neither of them.

"It's 5:00. Dinner doesn't start for another hour and a half." Glorfindel didn't say anything but continued to stare hard at the wall. Suddenly he turned his head to the door. Legolas walked in thirty seconds later. It was the first time he had actually gathered up his courage enough to step fully into my room, and I was guessing that seeing Glorfindel and me in the room together gave him that little surge of bravery.

"Mankoi naa lle sinome?" Legolas sneered at Glorfindel. Glorfindel just stood there and grinned triumphantly.

"Come, lirimaer," he said, turning to me and reaching for my arm, "We can take a walk in the gardens before dinner starts."

"Utinu en lokirim," hissed Legolas. Okay now I was fed up with this. If this is what I was going to be looking forward to for the next three months until the Fellowship left, I was going to go insane. Not that I probably already haven't. After all, I was having dinner in Lord Elrond's palace dressed like an elf. I think I had gone a teeny bit farther than jut insane.

"Okay you know what? This is totally ridiculous," I began as Legolas and Glorfindel pouted and glared at each other. "You two are acting like rabid dogs fighting over a huge piece of meat. And I don't like being the piece of meat…okay well, I do, but it's wrong and you guys know it, so tonight, I will be escorting myself to dinner." With that I brushed past both of them and left. I felt bad because I knew they both liked me, and I was already depressed about the whole Christmas thing, so I really didn't need to listen to them arguing, and I could definitely hear them yelling at each other as I left. I decided to go to the library and read for another hour before I went to dinner. After that I would go find Arwen and ask her what I should do about the whole situation. Luckily, I ran into her on the way down to the library. She was just coming out when I found her.

"Hey Arwen. Where are you going?" I asked.

"Hello Lena. I was going to see Aragorn," she said, smiling at the thought of seeing him again. My disappointment must have shown because she quickly suggested we take a walk through the palace. I still hadn't seen the entire place. I limited myself mostly to the bedroom, dining room, library, and gardens, so I agreed and we set off. I told her about the whole Glorfindel-Legolas dilemma, and she listened quietly.

"What should I do," I asked.

"The answer is simple. You must choose between them," she replied nonchalantly.

"But…But…They're both so hot!" I cried, covering my face with, my hands. She laughed and looped my arm through her's.

"If you do not wish to choose then don't. But you cannot continue to let them think that if they continue pestering you like this then they may actually have a chance with you," she said. Really? Now why didn't I think of that? Oh wait… I did! Obviously sharing this with Arwen wasn't making me feel any better, but I decided to just drop the subject. I had convinced her to ditch Aragorn just to listen to my stupid problems, so I probably shouldn't yell at her.

"I told them that it was stupid for them to be fighting over me," I told her.

"Did they listen?"

"I have no idea. I sort of blew up at them and left before they could say anything. They were arguing when I left the room." She looked confused.

"Blow up? You know, like, I started yelling at them and everything," I explained. She made a small noise of acknowledgement.

"I take it you won't be coming to dinner than?"

"No I'm coming. But I decided to just eat with Gandalf and the hobbits. They're hilarious and I'll probably feel a lot better after I've talked with them. Those little guys always cheer me up," I said with a laugh. Arwen laughed with me.

"Well I will make sure that Glorfindel and Legolas behave themselves," she said lightly as we rounded the corner to the dining hall. Aragorn was waiting there for her at the entrance and she slipped her arm out of mine. She turned around and grinned at me.

"I will talk to you soon lirimaer," she teased.

"Get out of here," I laughed, slapping her lightly on the arm. I was probably one of the only people who could do this and not get tackled by a palace guard. I waved at Aragorn.

"Hi Aragorn!" I called, "how have you been."

"Hello Lena. I was worried when Arwen did not meet me earlier, but I feel better knowing she was with you," he called back sarcastically and laughed. My clumsiness was becoming a hazard to everyone around the palace and I was mocked by everyone for it. I laughed along with him and he bowed as we came closer to each other.

"Well it's not like it took her a lot of convincing to miss your little date," I teased back. Arwen and him wrapped their arms around each other and I took that as my cue to leave.

"See ya," I waved and walked into the dining room. Glorfindel and Legolas were sitting at the same ends of the table as usual, but they ere trying very hard not to look at each other. Both stood as I came in, but I surprised them by walking straight over to the hobbits were sitting. Pippin was overjoyed, and scooted over to make room for me. I know that I was supposed to be over her to get away from two guys who had feelings for me, but I thought that Pippin's crush on me was more endearing than flattering. Of course, the other three hobbits exchanged amusing glances at Pippin, though the youngest hobbit pretended not to notice.

"How are you today Lena?" he asked me eagerly.

I grinned at him and replied, "Why I'm just dandy Pip, how bout you?"

"Great! Tomorrow I have another sword fighting lesson with Borimir-"

"We all do Pip! Stop trying to show off!" cried an exasperated Merry. The other hobbits laughed and Sam had to cover his mouth to stop from spitting out his ale when Pippin turned beet red and tried to protest that he wasn't trying to show off. I tried my hardest not to laugh and only smiled so Pippin wouldn't be too embarrassed. Instead I told Pippin that of course I would come, and turned to look at Frodo. The amazing blue of his eyes never ceased to amaze me. He was laughing and smiling with the rest of us, but his hands stayed near the neck of his shirt, stroking something on the chain around his neck. The ring. I tried to look away, but Frodo saw and he quickly averted his eyes and stuck the ring back into his shirt I suddenly didn't feel to hungry and I left. I ran to my room and closed the door behind me. I grabbed my ipod and changed into my dance outfit and went to the gardens. I found a small clearing, and it was already dark so I didn't worry about someone seeing me. I didn't like dancing in front of other people unless I was on a stage. Then all the embarrassment melted away and nobody else existed. I found "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado on the ipod and plugged it in. then I let loose.

Kick, step, crouch, and spin…

I couldn't hear or see anything else. That ended and the ipod switched to "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore. I stopped dancing and sang along with the music. A few of the guards had wandered over to see where the noise was coming from. I kept singing. I didn't care. My dancing and my singing were all that I had left. The only things familiar to me in the world. Those were the two things that would always stay constant in my life. I stayed like that for a while and the guards left. I switched back to the Pussycat Dolls and tore into the routine with every shred of my emotions. I threw myself into the routine, elaborating on some of the parts that I thought were too boring or too easy. Legolas was there when I turned around. He was most likely in shock from the expression on his face. When I got to the belly dancing, his mouth literally dropped open. The guards had even come back. I doubted they had ever seen any woman in Middle Earth move like that, especially in public. I smiled, feeling quite proud of myself, especially when I had to contort my body to bend all the way back under my straddled legs. I walked under the rest of the way, the rest of my body sliding behind me in a loop. It was impressive. I'm not being conceited. I had only learned how to manipulate the joints and muscles in my body to bend into near impossible shapes only three years ago, whereas it took most people five or six years to do so. The song ended with three guards and incredibly stunned Legolas practically drooling. I said nothing but flipped my hair over my shoulders and smiled, brushing past them.


	12. Chapter 12

I woke up and put on the clothes that had been laid out for me the night before. I was going to be wearing brown boots, green leggings, a white shirt and a brown vest. I looked in the mirror. I looked like fucking Legolas except midget sized with curly blonde hair. The large brown eyes that normally everyone complimented me on because of how clear and shiny they usually were, looked back at me, scared and confused. I let out a choked sob and fell back on my bed. I lay there sobbing for about 20 minutes before I got back up and started to walk to the door. Unfortunately I was still trying to wipe the tears off of my face and ended up running into the corner of my vanity, making me cry again. It must've been another five minutes until I completely stopped crying, and finally I pulled back my hair, grabbed my small shoulder bag that contained what was left of my life, and made my way down to the dining hall. Only Frodo, Gandalf, and a couple of guards were there. I looked out the windows and saw that from the way the light looked outside, it was probably a little late for breakfast. Glorfindel was one of the guards.

"Are you going to come down to the gate with everyone else to say good bye?" I asked. He turned slowly to look at me before replying.

"No I have a very urgent message to send so I'll be leaving later on today. I also have some other things to take care of. I will be quite busy," He said in a rush. I was hurt that he wasn't going to see me off. He stood up.

"In fact, I'm afraid I must be leaving right now."

"Okay," I said, trying not to cry. Glorfindel and Rana had been my only friends here, and out of the two of them, he had been the only one I could really talk to. I threw myself into his arms before he had a chance to say anything. "Thank you so much for everything!" I cried, my voice muffled. He gently pushed me away so he could look into my face. He smiled and kissed my cheek lightly.

"Le annon guren," he whispered, then spun on his heel and left. I can't even describe how alone I felt right then. I was stuck here in Middle Earth. I had no friends or family, and the closest thing I had to that here was Glorfindel, and the next time he saw me I would probably be laying in a box. I turned around. Some of the guards had seen, but they quickly looked away, talking amongst themselves. Only Gandalf and Frodo were still staring at me. Gandalf looked at me with a pitying sigh, and Frodo's mouth was still hanging open.

"What?" I asked. "What did he say?" Gandalf sighed again and seemed to think carefully, puffing slowly on his pipe.

"Let's just say," he began, smoke filtering out through his nose and mouth, "That that man cares for you more than you will ever know." I looked behind me at the entrance to the dining hall.

"Oh I think I know," I said softly. Rana interrupted me from my thoughts. She ran down the dining hall and flung herself at me.

"Rana," I half cried and half laughed. Rana had been crying it was obvious and she handed me a tiny silver necklace on which hung a delicate glass cherry blossom. It was so tiny and perfect and I put it on right away. I had been practicing what I wanted to say all week and I hoped I wouldn't say the wrong thing.

"Hebithon ant gîn nen guren. Uir ce vellon nîn," I continued. Rana looked amazed by my new phrases and her eyes shined as I went on, "Boe i bedin." I wiped a tear from my cheek and Rana was trying to hold her's in, but eventually we both gave in fell upon each other crying. I sniffled as I noticed Gandalf and Frodo gather their things. Frodo patted my hand as he walked by and Gandalf nodded to me.

"Namaarie, mellonamin," she said softly, "Cormlle naa tanya tel'raa." I gave her one last hug, and then I ran to catch up with Gandalf and Frodo. The entire Fellowship was waiting at the gates for me. I thought back to the movies and the books. This was where it ended for me. I was never going to make it. I was going straight to my death. The citizens of Rivendell also crowded around us to watch us leave. Arwen and Aragorn broke away from each other and he touched something hanging around his neck, but I couldn't see what it was. I walked alongside Pippin and the other hobbits. I couldn't survive this. But I had to for now, because they actually needed me. I had spent four months getting to know these people, and I actually liked them. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure everything goes exactly how it's supposed to. I glanced at Pippin, who squeezed my hand when he saw the worried look on my face. I smiled down at the youngest hobbit. He looked so sweet and innocent, like he really believed that we would all make it through this. Maybe we all would. But I knew that now this was my life. This was my duty. Protect the people of Middle Earth. I didn't know how the hell I was going to do it, but I was going to try my hardest. The Fellowship started to move, and we were leaving Rivendell.


	13. Chapter 13

I walked in the back with the hobbits. Legolas, Aragorn, and Gandalf were walking up front; planning which routes we were going to take. Borimir and Gimli were shooting suspicious looks and me and then talking amongst themselves quietly. I sighed and went back to listening to the hobbits argue about what we should have for lunch.

"I say we go for some nice stewed rabbit and a mushroom soup," said Sam, who was by far the best cook out of us all.

"And where in the world are you going to get a rabbit to stew?" smirked Merry.

"Just look around," Sam cried indignantly, waving an arm around, "We're in the middle of the woods! There's got to be plenty of rabbits running around here.

Pippin almost collapsed with laughter. "Oh I can just imagine you trying to catch a rabbit. You'd trip over your own two feet and land right on your arse!"

"Hey now see here-" began Sam, but he was drowned out by Gandalf yelling, "Stop your inane cackling you foolish little hobbits!" Everyone froze. "Do not make me regret bringing you three along." Aragorn was still smiling at the hobbits, though the poor little things were scared out of their minds and were silent for about another five minutes. Gandalf walked on and the rest of us followed. Legolas moved to the back with Gimli and Borimir moved up front to talk with Aragorn. I was bored out of my mind and said so out loud.

"Perhaps if we are lucky, lirimaer, we will stumble across a pack of Orcs. Would that interest you?" he teased. I was surprised. Since that day when I yelled at him and Glorfindel, he hadn't bothered to talk to me. It was nice to have someone to talk to on the way. Well, someone to talk to that I didn't have to look down at. He was walking right beside me, so I had to lean my head back to look up at him.

"Ugh it's just all this walking," I groaned, "Usually back home if I got this bored I could go to the mall or watch TV or call my friends or go to the movies. Here it's just walking. All day. Every day until we reach Mordor." Legolas looked confused for a moment. Then I suddenly realized why he was confused. "Sorry. Those are things people my age do for fun in my world."

"I would like to know more about your world," he said.

"Like what?"

He paused for a moment to think of something to ask me. "What would you be doing today if you were not here?" he asked.

"Well, first I would get up. I would get dressed and put on my make up-" I began before he interrupted me.

"What is make up?" he asked, once again looking confused. I sighed as I tried to think of a way to describe it to someone who had never seen make up before in their life.

"Well make up is what women and some men use to make themselves look better. It's sort of like face paint but not as dramatic or thick as that," I explained.

"I see," he said, nodding, but I could tell that he still didn't quite get it.

"So then you must be wearing face paint right now," he said slowly. I was startled and didn't know whether I was being insulted or complemented.

"Umm…no actually," I said uncertainly. He was confused again.

"But you say that this make up makes people look more beautiful, but you look beautiful right now and you're not wearing make up," he said.

"Okay so what's your point?" I asked, flattered but still very confused. He was silent.

"If you already look so radiant, then why would you wear make up?" he asked.

"Um I don't know," I stammered, "I guess it's because I don't think I'm very radiant and putting on make up makes me feel better about the way I look." No one had ever been that bluntly honest with me before.

"Why?" he asked again.

"Why what?" I was getting incredibly exasperated and being unintentionally psychoanalyzed by an elf wasn't really making me feel any better. If anything it just reminded me that by going along with this thing I was proving that I was getting more insane by the second.

"Why don't you like the way you look?" he asked.

"Well, you know, everyone has little imperfections that they're kind of embarrassed about," I said. Legolas waited for me to go on. "It's not that I don't like myself. It's just that in my world looks are everything. People try to tell you that it's not true but you are always judged and labeled by what you look like. It's like, if you don't like something about yourself, then you're a loser with no self esteem, but if are happy with the way you are, then you are considered a snob and nobody wants to talk to you because they think you're too stuck up."

When I was finished I didn't hear an answer from him. Finally he spoke up. "Please go on telling me about your world." I went on to describe to him a normal day in my life, and he interrupted every five minutes to clarify or have me explain something. It was dark when we finally stopped.

"We shall make camp here for the night and set out in the morning after breakfast," Aragorn called. It was getting cold out, even with my warm elf suit on, so I reached into my bag and pulled out my jeans and my sweatshirt, slipping those on over my elf clothes. I pulled the hood over my head and snuggled against a tree trunk, burrowing my face into the sweatshirt. It was an old Harvard sweatshirt of my dad's. He gave it to me after he divorced my mom and was preparing to move to New York with Nissa. We didn't see each other often because my mom didn't like me visiting him, so he gave me the sweatshirt to wear whenever I started to miss him too much.

I wore it almost every night.

I looked across me. Everyone had gathered around the fire except for Frodo, who was hovering around the circle but not joining it. I could see him mindlessly playing with the ring. He looked worried and I felt sorry that someone as innocent as that poor hobbit had to bear the burden of all of M.E. I felt myself getting tired, but before I could fall asleep something was shoved into my hands. Pippin looked at me expectantly.

"It's very good. I made it," he said proudly. I was holding a bowl of soup.

"Oh thanks. Um what's in it?" I asked. I was starving and was going to eat it anyways, but I wanted to make sure of what was in it before hand. After all, I didn't know what people in M.E. ate and I didn't want to be going to bed with a stomach full of twig soup.

"Mushrooms, onions, carrots, cabbage, and a bit of basil leaf," he said. He was still watching me, so I just smiled and lifted the bowl to my mouth. To my surprise it was really good and I chugged the entire bowl without pausing to taking a breath. Pippin seemed pleased, so I handed the bowl to him and said good night. He glanced at me once more, and then turned away with a slight bounce in his step. I smiled, thinking that he was such a sweet little hobbit. Too bad he wasn't my type. Although I could definitely name one of these guys who was…

I let that thought trail off as I felt my eyelids grow heavier and heavier until I finally fell asleep.

The first thing that caught my eye when I woke up was that I was the first one awake. I looked around and then looked down at myself. I felt filthy and I desperately needed a bath, but first I needed to go pee. I went as far as I could into the woods while still making sure I wasn't too far from the group, but I soon heard water running. I stepped a little farther into the forest and saw the most amazing thing in my life…

"A hot spring!" I cried joyfully. There was a small pond right in front of me. The water was clear blue and there were large rocks around it that kind of closed it in. I could see the steam rising form the water. Now I have never skinny dipped before in my life, but understand that I hadn't bathed in two days and I felt like seriously gross, so I ran back and found that Gandalf, Aragorn, and Sam were awake and cooking breakfast.

"I found a hot spring!" I cried.

Looking at me Aragorn slowly repeated, "You found a hot spring?"

"Yes! You know! Like a pond filled with hot water!" I said incredulously. People could be so stupid sometimes.

"So?" Sam pressed.

"So I'm going to take a bath. I'll be right back," I cried, running off into the woods. I heard Aragorn calling after me but I didn't pay attention. Reaching the spring, I stripped down to nothing and slowly eased myself in. It was scalding at first and I jumped out, but I decided that I would just go in slowly and soon I was used to the water, swimming around and singing "Over My Head" at the top of my lungs.

Back at the camp, Lena had been gone for 10 minutes and everyone was awake. Aragorn would have been worried, but everyone could hear the steady stream of laughter and singing coming from in the woods. They were all starting to get annoyed and thought she might be coming back, but they heard another burst of singing.

"Were you right? Was I wrong? Were you weak? Was I strong?"

Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Borimir, and Legolas all smiled as Aragorn let out another impatient sigh.

"Please someone fetch the girl so that we may start walking again?" he asked, but was interrupted by a burst of laughter as Lena started a new song.

"DON'T LET NOBODY TELL YOU YOUR LIFE IS OVER! BE EVERY COLOR THAT YOU ARE!"

"I will be driven mad before the day is done!" he shouted, but then smiled in spite of himself. "Borimir please go get her," Aragorn said, turning to him.

Borimir stood up and held back another burst of laughter. "Of course, Aragorn." Borimir pushed his light brown hair out of his face and handed his last piece of bacon to Frodo, who took it with a smile and went back to conversing with Sam. Legolas looked disappointed and Aragorn, noting this, laughed as he said to Legolas, "Mani?"

Legolas glared at the ranger, who was grinning from ear to ear as he watched Legolas think of a proper response. Without a word, Legolas turned his back to the man and threw himself into conversation with Gimli

I heard someone walking not so gracefully through the woods as I ran out of songs to sing. At least, the songs that I knew all the lyrics to. Pulling myself to the edge of the spring, I waited to see who it was. I almost groaned out loud when I saw Borimir step out from the shelter of the trees. Compared to him, I would've preferred a roaming pack of Orcs.

"You must come back to camp and eat so that we may move on soon," he said, looking uncomfortable.

I rolled my eyes as I replied, "Whatever," and pulled my clothes towards me. Without another word, he turned around and waited until I told him he could look again. My clothes clung to me in wet spots because I hadn't dried off before I put them on. I sighed. I was going to have to put on my jeans and sweatshirt or at least change into my dance outfit that I had put in my bag also so this one could dry off. I adjusted my pants quickly while Borimir had his back turned. I had decided a while ago that I could get away with going commando. Hey, it wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than getting some sort of virus from constantly wearing dirty underwear.

"So how far do you think we're going to be able to get today," I asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied shortly. So I'm guessing our unspoken truce wasn't as friendly as I'd first assumed. Then again, accusing him of trying to murder Frodo soon might make him a little, shall we say, cranky.

"Okay," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "I beg your pardon," he said, turning around.

I gave him a smile that could make an angel cry and quickly said, "Nothing that would interest you I'm sure." He looked suspiciously at me, but turned around and continued to walk back to camp. The smile slid off my face once he had turned his back to me and I stuck out my tongue childishly as we entered camp. Aragorn grinned and chuckled at my immaturity and Legolas smiled, although Pippin joined in by pointing at Borimir and making a mean, serious face. I laughed and Pippin beamed, though Merry and the other two hobbits merely took one look at his shining face and rolled their eyes. Borimir of course, didn't think it was too funny and snapped, "What's so funny?"

I pasted on my angelic grin and said, "Nothing." Borimir gave me a dirty look and went to talk with Gandalf and Aragorn. Gimli and Legolas were in debate in something stupid. From what I heard it was: which environment is a better place to live? A tree or a cave? I vote neither of them. Try a brick house with heat and a freezer full of phish food ice cream. I decided that it was probably better not to offer this option and swerved away from the odd pair. Sam and Frodo were huddled together and it looked like the conversation was fairly serious, and I couldn't find Merry and Pippin. Typical. I knew they were around here somewhere and would hear me if I called out to them that we were moving, so I didn't worry too much about it. Instead I walked over to where Aragorn, Borimir and Gandalf were talking. Timidly, I tapped Aragorn on the shoulder. I had zero respect for Borimir so I didn't really try to pretend that I was afraid of him. Aragorn and Gandalf, though gentler and quieter than Borimir, were a lot more intimidating to me and I didn't really talk to them.

Aragorn turned around and smiled at me. "Yes?"

I glanced at the ground and met his eyes. "Um, when are we going to be moving?" I asked. Aragorn smiled again and looked at Gandalf. Gandalf took another puff of his pipe while he watched me.

"Thirty minutes," he said genially.

"Okay thanks," I said quickly as I spun on my heel and ran back to my bag. I took the bag and quickly changed into my dance outfit and put my jeans and sweatshirt over it. I left my boots on.

I sat near the fire as I hugged my bag to my chest. I sat my bag down next to me and opened it, pushing aside my clothes until I found what I was looking for. A picture of my family before my parents had split up. I was 7, my brother Tony was 12, and Alex was 17. Both of my brothers were the spitting image of my father with longish, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and the darkest complexion you could ever imagine on people who were 100 white. I was sitting on Tony's lap and smiling as big as I could to show off the missing spaces where my two front teeth had fallen out. Even at 7 I was tiny for my age and looked more like I was 4. My parents had their arms around each other. My dad had been tickling mom in the side while the picture was taken and when the timer on the camera went off it caught them looking like the happiest people in the world. It was hard to imagine that the man in the picture who looked so in love with the woman beside him could be the soon-to-be father of another baby girl and the woman in the picture would be tired and stooped from crying so much, her face starting to wrinkle and pale even more from pining over that man sitting next to her. They had both made each other so happy. What could have possibly gone wrong?

My cheek felt cold and I realized that I had been silently crying, the tears falling in small rivers down my cheeks. It was hard to believe that I would never see them again. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Legolas bent down on one knee, still not even close to be level with my face, and looked at the picture. He was fascinated.

"It's a picture," I explained, "It's a small little box and when you press a button on it and it freezes the image of whatever is before it."

"But how does it capture this image?" he asked.

"Um I don't really know exactly how it works. They explained it in my science class, but I honestly can't remember how they explained it. The best I can tell you is that the camera, which is the little box, captures and bends light and freezes it onto a special roll of glossy paper called film and then you take that film to a special place where they make that teeny little piece of film into this," I finished, holding up the picture.

"But how does this camera capture light?" he asked.

"I told you I have no idea. What I just told you is the best way I can explain it. I know it's confusing but I'm not an expert on this," I said. Legolas opened his mouth to ask me something else, but Aragorn stood up and yelled for Merry and Pippin to come back because we were going to start moving now. The two hobbits came running out of the woods, grinning mischievously. I had no idea what they were up to but it was bound to make this trip a whole lot more exciting.

I knew what had happened as soon as Sam called out, "Now what did you two do with it?" he asked angrily.

Merry wiped the grin of his face and asked concernedly, "Why Sam? I don't know what in the world you're talking about."

"You know very well what I'm talking about!" he yelled.

Pippin adopted Merry's same tone as he said "Why Sam! Could it be that love letter that Rosie gave you? Or is it the one of the letters that you've been writing to her?" he asked.

"Give it back!" Sam yelled, his face turning red.

"No Pip. I think he's talking about the poem," Merry said, nudging Pippin in the ribs.

" 'My delicate rose how I wish you were near'" Pippin began, as he grabbed Merry's hand and Merry pretended to swoon.

"Oh my Sam! Do read another line to me!" cried Merry.

Sam had turned beet red and even Frodo was smiling as he called out, "That's enough of that you two. Besides, if I hear anymore poetry by Sam I might have to throw myself into Mount Doom along with the ring."

Merry and Pippin cracked up and Pippin pulled a crumpled piece of paper. Sam grabbed too hard and accidentally ripped a small hole in the middle.

"Now look what you've done," he snapped as he stalked back to his things. Pippin and Merry stopped laughing and stared after him.

"We were only having a bit of fun," he said in shock at Sam's extreme reaction to their prank. I looked at Sam who was trying to smooth the poem of a rock. I understood how embarrassed he was right now, so I walked over to him. He saw my shadow and turned around.

"Need any help?" I asked as I knelt beside him. He cupped his arm around the paper so I couldn't read it, and I slipped off my shoulder bag until I found a small tube of super glue. It had been in my backpack and I had decided to bring it along, thinking it might come in handy.

"May I?" I asked, holding out my hand. Sam looked at my face and, after deciding that I wasn't trying to humiliate him further, handed over the poem. I looked around and found a flat stone and spread the paper over it. Pinching together the hole and then flipping it over to make sure it looked okay, I opened the tube and carefully poured a little drop of super glue on it, then spread it around. I waited a bit, and then did the same thing again. When the glue had dried, I turned it back over. It was sort of smudge and there were a few letters missing, but you could still read it.

"There! Good as new," I exclaimed proudly as I handed it back to him. He gave me a smile as he muttered thanks and continued to pack the rest of his things.

I walked back over to Legolas and said, "That is my first and last good deed of the day." I laughed to let him know I was kidding, but he had already walked away. Rude much. Everyone was packed and we were all standing in a small group. Straightening into a long line, we started moving again.


	14. Chapter 14

Yes I know everyone I'm finally back with another wonderful chapter of my story! I'm very sorry but I got caught up in another fanfic, and I haven't had a lot of time since school started, but I promise to make this a good long one, or as long as I can make it without getting distracted. By the way, I've read a few fanfics on which people have gotten some pretty retarded flames for not following along with the book or the movie and I want to say now that if you try that I will make you look like the most stupid person alive. This is based strictly on the movie and some of it such as how long it takes to get from Rivendell to Carahdras is plain guessing, so I really don't want to hear about it if you have a problem with something stupid like that. Also, one of my reviewers asked me to find some way to put some sort of subtitles for the Elvish, and any spoken Elvish in the story, there will be a translation at the end of the chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Tolkein or any other references to LOTR in this story, even though I wish I did :

I didn't even remember how long it had been since we left Rivendell. I hadn't showered in weeks, my clothes were filthy, we only ate twice a day, and I was so bored I thought I might have to start chucking rocks at Borimir for entertainment. It had been growing gradually colder as we moved on, so I stopped bothering to change out of my Elvish clothes. Finally Gandalf told us all that we were going to rest here for a couple of hours. It was a nice day, sunny and fairly warm, and we stopped on top of a grassy hill filled with huge boulders. I looked around me in dread. This was where the real danger started in the movie, so I had a little chat with Gandalf.

"Um Gandalf I don't think this is a good place to stop," I whispered. He looked at me with concern as he slowly sat himself of the nearest rock.

"Why not?" he asked.

I lowered my voice even more. "Because he knows we're here. His spies are going to fly over us while we're here. I don't know when they're coming." Gandalf pondered what I said for a moment.

"Well then we must press on towards Carahdras," he decided. I grabbed his arm.

"But he'll send a storm! He's going to try to run us off. The only other way through the mountain is through Moria and he knows that you won't go there unless we have no other choice!" I cried. Aragorn and Legolas turned to look at us. Gandalf stared at me intently.

"Is there any other choice?" he asked. I didn't want to answer. I liked Gandalf, and I knew what would happen if we went through Moria, but I also knew how upset he would be if I put the others in jeopardy just because I didn't want to upset him. I took a quivering breath and a tear fell out of my eye.

"Gandalf I can't let you go in there," I whispered. For a long time he couldn't speak, and when he did his voice was thick with emotion.

"We will stay here for a few hours, and then we will head towards Moria." He bowed his head and lit his pipe. I took that to be the end of the conversation and walked away. I found a large boulder to hide myself behind and sobbed. Why me? Why did it have to be me? I wasn't some hero; I wasn't a real part of the Fellowship, so why would that stupid old man listen to me? I calmed myself down and wiped my face. I walked over to the fire and got myself a bowl of stew.

I was halfway through when I heard Legolas cry, "Crebain from Dunland!" I calmly dumped out my soup and snuffed out the fire, then ducked down behind a boulder with my bowl. I looked up and saw a flock of birds that looked like crows flying above us, crying out loudly. When they had passed, I got up and saw Gandalf staring at me with an expression of…fear? Apprehension? Or was it mistrust? The look in those shining blue eyes made me uncomfortable, and I avoided looking at him. We didn't say anything as we packed our stuff and left. We were going to Moria, and I wasn't sure if I would be one of those coming out alive.


	15. Chapter 15

**Woot woot! Yes everyone I'm back and finally about to get on with another chappy of my lovely story : and thank you to my 2 reviewers. As always I appreciate the reviews, but I don't appreciate the assholes that read this story and don't review at all. So there sticks tongue out**

**Disclaimer: Don't own LOTR or any of the characters from LOTR though I wish I did. It was all the brilliance of Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien**

I absolutely hated these stupid people. Gandalf is walking headfirst into death. And what about me? I haven't been written into the script! I don't have special skills and considering at this point I had already figured out God hates me so much and isn't going to do a damn thing to save me! I was probably going to fall into a fiery pit or fall into some kind of hole in the ground in the cave, that is if I even make it past the Watcher. What if…maybe in this dimension I'll be the first to go! I felt sick to my stomach and Legolas gave me a strange look and shifted away.

"You don't look as if you feel well Lena," Legolas said.

"Oh no I'm fine," I said, still clutching my stomach. Legolas put a little more space between us, and then continued walking. I pulled my cloak around me tightly and shivered violently. We had been walking higher into Caradhras and the temperature had been dropping the higher we climbed. A small cry came from behind and everyone turned quickly. Gandalf gripped his staff and Legolas went for his arrow, but we all soon realized Frodo had only slipped. Aragorn helped him to his feet and brushed snow off of him.

"Are you all right?" Aragorn asked, his hand still on the hobbits shoulder, but Frodo didn't answer. Instead he put his hand to his neck. My heart grew heavy and I watched Borimir go for the ring lying in the snow.

"No!" I whispered. Legolas glanced at me and then realized what I was looking at. He once again put his hand behind his head, resting his fingers lightly on an arrow. Aragorn gripped the handle of his sword, but Borimir was oblivious. He only stared in wonder at the glistening gold ring in his palm.

"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing," He said softly. His eyes misted over and he reached out a gloved finger to touch it.

"Borimir!"

Borimir's head jerked up and he looked in alarm at Aragorn. Aragorn glared at him.

"Give the ring to Frodo," Aragorn whispered. Borimir stared at the ring, as if reluctant to hand it over, but he glanced at me, and I smirked triumphantly. He glared and walked purposefully over to Frodo.

"As you wish…I care not," he replied loudly, holding out the ring by its chain. The sunlight glinted off the golden surface as Frodo reached out and grabbed the ring. He quickly put it over his head and covered it with his hand. Borimir looked around, but the rest of the Company was still staring in shock. Well, except for me. I was actually close to laughing. I seriously had to resist the urge to point at him and yell, "Told you so!"

He tousled the hobbit's hair and continued walking, and the rest of the Company followed slowly. Aragorn's hand slid off the hilt of his sword, and Legolas took his hand down. Legolas and I lagged behind the group some ways.

"What you said at the Council…about Borimir…and the ring…it's true," he sighed sadly. He looked at me with clear blue eyes and I felt my heart melt.

Hey, I didn't really like him anymore in that way, but that didn't stop him from being incredibly sexy.

Legolas stared ahead before he continued. "I had heard of him somewhat before the Council. According to others, travelers from areas around Gondor, Borimir is a great man, loyal, and willing to do anything to help his people." I tried to think of how to answer him.

"Borimir is a good man. He wants to do the right thing. He thinks that by controlling the ring, he can save everyone. He doesn't understand that the ring corrupts you, makes you…" I trailed off, focusing on Frodo. The poor hobbit was bent over. It was getting increasingly windy and cloudy, but he never relinquished his grip on the ring hanging around his neck.

"Evil," I finished. Legolas and I looked hard at each other.

"You speak as if you know," he whispered.

"But I do," I replied simply, shrugging my shoulders, "I've told you. I know what's going to happen. I know what Frodo is suffering. The ring worked its charms on him a long time ago. He's too far gone, and no one can bring him back." Legolas long blonde hair fluttered as a gust of icy wind blew against us.

Yes. His hair is so long and perfect that it actually flutters, as stupid and girly as it sounds.

I pulled my warm hood over my head and we hurried to catch up with the Company. The air was freezing and the hobbits and I fell behind, spasms of cold violently shaking our bodies. We finally had top stop at a huge snow bank, and we waited while Legolas stepped lightly onto the bank and ran ahead to see where it ended. I fell and leaned against the mountainside with the hobbits. I felt so sleepy, and it wasn't really so cold anymore….

I was shaken awake by Legolas. He drew his cloak around me, and I looked around to see that Borimir had taken Pippin and Merry to him and shook them every once in a while to make sure they weren't sleeping. Aragorn was doing the same thing to Sam and Frodo. All four hobbits were deathly pale, and I could see form Legolas' face that I looked just as bad as the hobbits. I buried my face against Legolas, but I couldn't get warm, even as he rubbed my arms and back and pulled his cloak even tighter around me. Legolas grew even more concerned and tilted his head in confusion. He handed me off to Aragorn and climbed onto the snow bank, staring into the storm.

"There is a fell voice in the air," he shouted. Large rock rained down on us and we all pressed against the mountainside to avoid being hit.

"It's Saruman! He's trying to kill us with an avalanche!" I screamed.

"Gandalf she is right! We must turn back!" Aragorn agreed. Gandalf pressed forward into the bank.

"No!" he yelled. He lifted his staff and started yelling a bunch of gibberish (okay it wasn't gibberish, but I didn't understand it so it might as well have been) at the storm, but Saruman's voice overpowered him.

"Gandalf! We must get off this mountain! Make for the Gap of Rohan and take the west road to my city!" Borimir yelled over the wind. For once I agreed with him.

"We can't! The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn yelled back.

"If we cannot pass of the mountain, let us go under it," Gimli suggested, grabbing Gandalf's arm, "let us go through the Mines of Moria." Gandalf's eyes glinted with a shadow of fear.

I raised my hand. "Uh if it counts for anything, I'll take my chances with Borimir's plan," I yelled. But I already knew what was going to happen. It seemed an eternity before Gandalf slowly looked at Frodo.

"Let the ring-bearer decide," Gandalf said.

"Don't let him decide! Hey I'm the one that knows the future! We should listen to me!" I screamed. The snow was whirling around my face and I shut my eyes against the stinging wind and huddled closer to Aragorn and the hobbits. Frodo gave me a dirty look and went indecisive. He probed my face with huge cerulean eyes and seemed to shrink smaller.

"We cannot stay here! It will be the death of the hobbits," yelled Borimir. The wind seemed to carry his voice and was lost among the roar of the wind. I covered my face with my hands and waited for the dreadful decision.

"We will go through the mines," Frodo finally relented. I felt him sag against my side and a rush of pity for him flowed through me. I put an arm around him and cuddled in closer against the harsh wind. Gandalf bowed his head and I saw his lips move, but the wind carried it away. Immediately Caradhras seemed to sense our defeat and the wind began to die down. Gandalf cast a long look at what would have been our road had Saruman not interfered, and then turned to us.

"We will go down the mountain where it is not as cold. The hobbits are still sick with cold, though, and Lena does not look so good either. Someone must stay awake and must wake them every 5 minutes or so to make sure they have not frozen to death," he told us. Legolas immediately volunteered to be the lookout. The hobbits couldn't walk, so each man took two hobbits on their backs. Gimli led Bill along since Sam couldn't walk, and I tried to walk, but I eventually felt too weak to go on, so Legolas carried me the rest of the way. : 3

So sue me. Sometimes being a damsel in distress can be a very good thing.

I have no idea how long it took to get down the mountain. When I opened my eyes it was still snowing and every now and then I felt a gust of wind, but we were definitely off. Legolas set me down and I crawled over to Gandalf, who had cleared a patch of snow and built up a fire. The hobbits were set down around the fire, and after we had been attended to, everyone else took a place around the fire. Legolas and Gimli were in another of their stupid arguments, but they were laughing so I took it as a good sign. Those two were getting loonier every second.

Yes I know. I'm on a quest to save Middle Earth and have a hottie elf waiting on me hand and foot, but they were the crazy ones. At least they belonged here.

"So where are we going now?" I asked.

"We will head south until we reach the Doors of Durin. That is where we shall find Moria," Gandalf said slowly. His gaze was faraway, as if he wasn't really there. After a moment he withdrew from the group and paced a few feet away, puffs of smoke billowing out of his pipe. No one followed since we all got the feeling he wanted to be alone, and after that no one spoke. Frodo glared at Borimir, his eyes like two blue slashes in his pale, peaked little face. His hand never left the ring dangling from his neck. Borimir saw this and tried to avoid looking at him by staring accusingly at me.

Accusingly at me? It wasn't my fault he's stupid! He shouldn't have touched the ring! Now everyone knows I'm right :

Pippin scooted closer to me and I leaned my head down to his.

"Why is Borimir staring at you like that?" he whispered into my ear. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Fuck if I know," I replied. Pip looked confused.

"I have no idea why he is staring at me like that," I whispered back, "On the count of three smile and wave. One, two, three!" Pippin and I both smiled and waved at Borimir at the same time. Borimir grew sulkier, as if he knew we were laughing at him, and grunted. Pippin gave me a grin, and then walked over to sit and talk with Borimir. I was irritated that Pippin was having a private chat with Borimir, but I sighed and decided that just because I didn't like Borimir didn't mean Pippin wasn't allowed to be friends with him. I turned to Merry.

"At least you haven't left me," I said brightly.

"Am I supposed to?" he asked.

"No!" I exclaimed, "I would get bored."

"Do you know what I wish I had more than anything right now?" he asked me.

"Uh…a blanket? A big warm one made out of feathers and bear furs?"

"No," he thought a moment, "Although that does sound nice. I was thinking about a nice steaming mug of ale." I envisioned myself wrapped in a giant furry blanket drinking warm ale and nearly cried thinking of all the warmth.

"Okay yeah that sounds amazing," I agreed, "The first thing when all of this is over, we're going out for a drink together." Merry nodded his head in agreement. Gandalf chose to walk over then.

"Everyone rest for now. We will move again as soon as the sun is up," he announced. Aragorn and Borimir walked over to Bill and started unloading blankets from the pony's back. Bill lay down and Aragorn spread the last blanket over him and a very small blanket loosely over the horse's muzzle so that he could still breathe without someone having to get up every few minutes and thaw out his nose. Blankets were distributed to everyone else and Legolas pulled his over to me. Since Legolas had volunteered to be the lookout, I felt safer knowing he was close to me.

And because he's a sexy beast. What? It's not like everyone doesn't know it. Who wouldn't feel safe having a blonde, arrow wielding god like Legolas standing over you while you sleep?

I was awoken once during the night by loud howling coming from all directions. My spine tingled and I felt around for Legolas, but couldn't find him. A blanket had been thrown over me, but when I tried to lift my head I heard Borimir's gruff voice whisper, "Don't look." There was more yelling and I heard Legolas's bow singing as he sent his arrows flying towards whatever was attacking us. Only minutes later, everything went silent and I threw the blanket off my head. All around me were the dead bodies of what looked like giant wolves. Legolas was pulling arrows from the carcasses and Gimli, Borimir, and Aragorn were wiping off their weapons. I watched in silence as Gimli, Legolas, and the two men dragged the bodies into a pile about 10 feet away and Gandalf built up a fresh fire. The only other person awake besides us was Frodo who had crawled closer to me when he heard the wolves attacking.

"Wargs," he quietly exclaimed. We looked at eachother and I was struck by how pretty his eyes were. Even in the dark, his round blue eyes seemed to glow from an inside light. I smiled and ruffled his dark curls, and we silently scooted closer to the fire and huddled together until we fell asleep.

When we woke again the fire had gone out and I was freezing. Legolas seemed unfazed by the cold weather and even went so far as to offer his cloak to me, but I told him that if he didn't wear the cloak I would kill him before cold would. We all ate a quick breakfast and packed up our things. I was still unbelievably cold, but I could walk without the blanket now that the wind had stopped and the snow was getting lighter, so I wrapped my blanket around Sam. He had given Frodo the entire blanket that they were supposed to be sharing. He said that since Frodo had a heavier burden to carry with him and was in more danger of becoming ill than he was, Frodo deserved the whole blanket. Sam thanked me graciously, and I ran ahead to catch up to Legolas, who was telling Gimli about Mirkwood.

"It is simply wonderful. There is soft music always in the air, and the clear river outside of the palace glitters and reflects a most splendid world of greens and blues and browns. And the trees are always blooming of small green leaves and the tiniest pink blossoms. When this is over, I will take you there, and you will never again wish for the sight of dark tunnels and ugly, cold rocks," Legolas was reminiscing. Gimli chuckled.

"Such mighty talk for an elfling who is supposedly so modest. The elves are not the only ones with fair cities and decadent halls. In the days of old, many creatures and men of great importance came to glimpse the very caverns that you are to enter soon," Gimli scolded. Legolas grinned, properly reprimanded, and put an arm around my shoulders. I pushed a blonde curl out of my face and eagerly urged Gimli to continue to tell us about Moria in the old days. He went on to describe the glittering halls, and the continuous dancing and the smells of great feasts that were prepared every night. He told us of the fire lit dwarf courts and the gleaming marble floors. And then he went on describe…

"Mithril! Never was there a finer or more valuable thing ever made. The color of silver and even more precious than gold, yet it was light like the wind, and indestructible. It took only the strongest handcrafted tools the dwarves had to cut it small enough to trade it. That is how the dwarves of old made their fortune," Gimli lectured. His voice was gruff and low, but his pride in the works of his ancestors was obvious.

"Yes," Gandalf spoke up, "I seem to remember one of the dwarf lords giving Bilbo a mail made of Mithril." Gimli was in awe.

"A coat of mail! Made of Mithril! Gandalf that is a fine thing indeed. The hobbit that carried that would be wearing the wealth of a king," he exclaimed.

"I have often told Bilbo that he had the price of the shire stowed away in the closet," Gandalf mused. He chuckled at the look of outrage on Gimli's face.

"A thing as fine as Mithril should not be put away in a closet like some worthless trinket. If only I could see it. I have not seen Mithril in so long a time," he said sadly.

"Why not?" Pippin inquired. Gimli thought hard.

"The dwarves were chased out of Moria. Something deep was brought forth from the darkest, deepest caverns of the earth, an evil thing it was," Gimli explained.

"Balrog," I offered.

"Yes…a Balrog. That was it. But even after the chaos that ensued died down, the orcs had taken over and we were never again able to reclaim Moria." I smiled at Frodo, who was fingering the hem of his shirt. Frodo looked startled when he saw me watching him, but I made a motion as if to zip my lips, and continued talking with Legolas and Gimli. It was another hour or so before Gandalf announced to us that we had reached the giant wall thingy.

No I don't have any idea what the name of the giant wall thingy is. The only thing I was interested in was the nasty black lake.

Gandalf was tapping along the wall with his staff, so I asked what he was looking for.

"Dwarf doors are invisible when closed," Gimli explained.

"Oh okay. So if you knock on one it's going to make it appear?" I questioned. Legolas smiled when Gimli rolled his eyes and helped Gandalf with the tapping.

"Yes Lena, Gimli is quite right. Even their own masters cannot find them, if the secrets are forgotten," Gandalf called from a few feet away.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Legolas muttered. Gimli shot him a dirty look and continued tapping, but Legolas ignored him. Finally Gandalf stopped tapping when he approached a spot between two scraggly dead trees. He waited for a while, just looking at the stars, and laughed when the clouds moved aside to reveal a full moon.

"Ithildin," he laughed, "Mirrors only starlight and moonlight." We all gasped as the outline of a beautiful silver arch supported by a large column on either side of the archway appeared on the rock before us. There was a large star in the middle of the doorway, and the columns were entangled with what looked like silvery twisting vines. There was curlicue writing along the top of the arch, which I guessed was Elvish.

"Okay. And it says?" I asked sarcastically. Gandalf glared at me. I know he was kind of the wrong person to take out my anger on, but the hobbits were too sweet and innocent, the men and the elf were too hot, and I had just started getting friendly with Gimli. Let's just say that Gandalf was the lucky winner by process of elimination.

"It reads, 'The Doors of Durin- Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter'," Gandalf stated. Frodo turned two huge blue eyes up to look at the wizard.

"What does it mean Gandalf?" Merry asked.

"Well obviously it means that if you are a friend, speak the password and the doors will open," Gandalf stood back and yelled something in Elvish at the door but nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing happened. Again he waved his staff wildly at the door and yelled again, but the door didn't budge.

"Nothing is happening," Pippin said.

"I realize that Pippin," Gandalf sighed.

"So what are you going to do?" Pippin asked cheerfully. Gandalf glared at him.

""Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took! And if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words," Gandalf yelled. Pippin bowed his head and he and Merry wandered over to the lake. Gandalf once again started yelling a bunch of gibberish at the doors, but the only one really watching him anymore was Frodo. It was getting embarrassing watching him, so I decided to climb up on a small rock and see how long I could balance on it on one foot. Sam was saying a tearful good bye to Bill.

"Moria is no place for a pony, Sam, even one so brave as Bill," Aragorn said consolingly, patting Sam on the shoulder and walking away. Sam hung his head and sobbed quietly, stopping every once in a while to blow his nose on a piece of cloth he had in his pocket.

"Good-bye, Bill," Sam said quietly. The pony trotted off around a corner, and Sam turned around to see me watching him. His face turned bright red, but I smiled and nodded to show him that it was okay. He went off behind a rock to be alone for a bit and I continued concentrating on my balancing game. I glanced behind me. Gandalf was deep in thought and talking quietly with Frodo, and I sighed, knowing that this would probably take awhile. Someone poked me in the back, and I lost my balance and stumbled, ending up with my butt on the cold muddy ground.

"Oh great," I moaned, "as if these pants haven't been through enough." I glared at Legolas, who laughed and helped me back on my feet.

"The things humans will do to amuse themselves are quite entertaining," he grinned, his ice blue eyes brightening. I glared harder and he laughed even harder.

"Careful. You might injure yourself if you try to think so hard," he said. I swiped at his arm but he moved back at the last second with the grace and speed only an elf has. I stooped to pick up a flat stone to chuck at him, but he was behind me and pinned both arms at my sides.

"My butt is still wet and muddy so I would be careful if I were you," I warned. I leaned into him and he jumped back. I nearly fell when I saw him wiping at a mud stain right on his crotch. I thought I was going to die laughing and I had to lean against a large rock to keep myself from falling when he gave me the death glare. It only made me laugh harder, and for a second I forgot all about Gandalf and Mordor and the ring. Soon I was wiping tears from my eyes.

"This will never come out," Legolas moaned, looking down. Aragorn came over to investigate and howled with laughter when he saw Legolas still furiously wiping at the front of his tights. Aragorn and I finally calmed down and Legolas walked up to me.

"What now?" he said, gesturing toward his frontal region. I giggled.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm putting on my jeans over this," I said. To his disbelief, I took out my jeans and slipped them on over my tights. Legolas lunged at me but I dodged him and hopped up onto a boulder. He quickly followed me up and tackled me on the rock. He pinned my arms at either side of my head and leaned over me.

"Lle lava?" he asked, smiling smugly. I stuck out my tongue and he pressed harder against my wrist. I let out a small yelp of pain.

"Amin lava!" I squealed and he jumped back looking pleased with himself. I started to continue, but a loud rumbling was heard over from where Gandalf and Frodo were, and everyone turned to look as the silver lined door swung outward. Legolas jumped lightly off the rock and helped me down, and we all continued into the cave. Borimir, Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Gimli were watching the water. There was a rippling running towards the shore where we were standing, and the two men hustled everyone inside the doors. We stepped into a shadowy chamber, and I tripped over the something. I remembered the movie, and I suddenly grew nauseous at the crunching sounds that were heard under everyone's feet. I moaned out loud a little, and Gimli was telling Legolas about the hospitality of the dwarves, but he wasn't listening. Instead he was trying to calm me down.

"Oh my God, oh my God get me out of here. I'm going to puke I swear to God," I whispered, nearly crying as I kicked aside a pile of bones at my feet and I stepped on even more. Gandalf blew on the top of his staff, and everyone stared in disgust at the bones and corpses strewn among the ground.

"This is no mine," Borimir whispered, "It's a tomb."

"Nooo!" Gimli yelled as he saw the bodies of dwarves lying on the floor of the mine. He sobbed and backed away towards the doorway.

"Goblins!" Legolas yelled, throwing down an arrow he had been inspecting and drew one of his own. His face was contorted in disgust as he tried to avoid stepping on the bones and bodies, and Borimir and Aragorn had drawn their swords.

"Make for the Gap of Rohan," Borimir cried. Everyone started running for the doors and I didn't know what to do. Suddenly it became clear though. I didn't want to stay here in the dark with the dead, but the Watcher was out there.

"No!" I screamed. I tried to grab for Frodo and pull him back inside, but a long, slimy tentacle darted out of the water and wrapped around Frodo's ankle, dragging him back into the water. Frodo clawed into the ground and Borimir and Aragorn rushed after him. Sam was trying to hack away at the tentacle with his small sword and calling for Aragorn.

"Help!" screamed a terrified Frodo, as the tentacle dangled him high above the water. The hobbits were calling Frodo's name and Borimir and Aragorn waded into the water, chopping at more tentacles surfacing from the inky blackness.

"Strider," screamed Frodo as a tentacle began wrapping itself around his face. Legolas ran to the shore of the lake, shooting at the tentacle. A huge purplish slimy head suddenly rose out of the water. Instead of a mouth, the creature had a gaping hole set by many sharp fangs. Frodo screamed and struggled against the tentacle as he was lowered closer to the mouth, but Aragorn sliced at the tentacle holding him with a new burst of strength, and Frodo fell into Borimir's arms. Aragorn ran out of the water as the thing screeched and flailed its tentacles wildly. Borimir followed, clutching Frodo tightly against him. Legolas shoved me, hard, to the doorway and I ran inside, hustling the rest of the hobbits with me.

"Into the mines," cried Aragorn. The beast uncoiled a large tentacle, snaking after Borimir and Frodo.

"Shoot it, Legolas!" screamed Aragorn. Legolas took aim and managed to shoot the Watcher in the eye. It screeched again and sent more tentacles out of the water, but Legolas had already sprinted in the cave. We all watched in horror as the pulsating arms wrapped around the doorway and brought it in. There was a loud rumbling and we all coughed as the debrief settled and flew around our faces. When we opened our eyes, the doorway was gone. I sighed and we turned to face the horrors to come.

We were trapped in Moria.


	16. Chapter 16

**Woot! So my computer is finally back and I have a fresh new chapter for all of you. It's going to be really long so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own lotr. I do, however, own Lena. That's about it.**

We stood there in the dark for maybe five minutes before Gandalf finally spoke up.

"We now have only one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria," Gandalf announced quietly. Everyone in the fellowship drew a collective breath of fear. I wish there was a light, and almost as if he had read my mind, Gandalf's staff lit up. Legolas' face was pale and weary. There was a smudge of dirt on his forehead that was kind of starting to annoy me. Aragorn and Borimir were both soaked and shivering, and the hobbits were scared out of their minds. Except for pippin, who gazed around the tunnel with curiosity. I recognized that look and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Don't touch anything. No offense, but usually when you touch things, something bad happens," I warned him. He looked up at me indignantly, with one hand on his hip. I wanted to tell him how gay it made him look, but I kept my mouth shut.

"That's not true," he whispered back. My mouth dropped open incredulously.

"Yeah okay so why exactly did Frodo almost get eaten by the Watcher? Oh yeah. Because you got bored and started throwing rocks into the lake. That water was nasty looking dude. Why would you even go near it?" Pippin pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, but he didn't answer. I was a little disappointed at the fact that my only ally against Borimir was mad at me, but then I realized that Frodo didn't like Borimir either, so I felt better instantly.

"Be on your guard. There are older and fouler things than Orcs, in the deep places of the world," Gandalf continued, " It's a four-day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence may go unnoticed." He turned around continued down the dark path. I moved closer to Legolas, and felt the ball of terror rising up in my chest as I struggled to swallow my screams. I had to do something to take my mind off of my phobia of the dark and of the horror that waited at the end of this tunnel, a horror everyone but me might survive. After all, I wasn't really supposed to be here, so there was nothing to protect me from getting killed off. Legolas leaned down to whisper in my ear. His long blonde hair fell into my face and I suddenly realized how freaking thick it was. I couldn't even blow it out of the way! I removed the curtain of hair from my line of vision so I could still walk and talk at the same time.

"Another bad feeling?" he asked. I nodded silently and squeezed his upper arm. He left me to take the back of the line with Gimli. The hobbits and I were told to stay in the middle, especially me since I didn't have any weapons. They had tried to give me a sword before I left Rivendell, but I told them there was no point since I didn't know how to fight. Now all I had was a small dagger on my left hip. Aragorn and Borimir were walking up ahead with Gandalf, and the hobbits were in back talking amongst themselves. I felt a little colder. The Elvish suit I was wearing was really warm, but the chill sweeping through the dank, nasty tunnel made me positively freezing, so I pulled my sweatshirt out of my backpack and put in on.

"What's Harvard?" Merry asked, peering at my sweatshirt.

"It's a college. Like a school, but for adults," I said. Merry still looked confused. "Do you know what school is?" He shook his head and eagerly waited for me to explain it to him. "Well okay you know how rich people have private teachers or tutors? Well a school is a place where they have a bunch of tutors for a bunch of different subjects, and kids have to go there to learn. Well after kids are done with regular school, they can decide whether they want to go on to college and learn even more about 1 certain thing, or if they just want to go get a job and start their life. But in my world you can't get a good job unless you go to college, so a lot of people choose to do that." I let my explanation sink in.

"Do you go to college?"

"I wish! I'm not even done with regular school yet. This sweatshirt was my dad's. And I'm not going to Harvard. My grades aren't good enough." Merry was confused again, so I explained to him the process of grading and how if you get very good grades, then you get to go to really good colleges, like Harvard, but if you only get mediocre or pretty good grades, then you go to something easier to get into or the colleges don't let you in at all. This got the hobbits started on another level of questioning, like what you studied at college and what kinds of things you did and how long you had to stay there. They hadn't stopped asking questions by the time we sat down to take a break. Aragorn walked over and laughed when he saw me slumped against the wall.

"Hobbits can be quite the handful," he said. I shook my head and smiled.

"No they're fine. Just curious is all. I would be too if I were them. I mean, compared to my life, this is so simple," I commented. Aragorn raised an eyebrow. "I don't mean simple as in easy, but simple as in uncomplicated. In your world, war is just straightforward. A dude has wants a ring so he can rule the world. In our world, in times of war, people do the most insane things. And the scary thing in my world is that some of the assholes that start these wars think that they're doing what's best for everyone. At least Sauron knows what he's doing is evil and doesn't try to make excuses for it. Sauron will kill an entire village of people and say, 'I'm evil and I did what was best for myself.' In my world, one maniac will exterminate an entire race of people and excuse it by saying that he was serving a higher purpose or that it was best for humanity." Aragorn listened intently, nodding every so often. He sat down next to me and turned to look me in the eyes.

"Is there much war in your world?" Aragorn asked softly. I shook my head and made a disgusted noise.

"People in my world kill for the stupidest reasons. So much goes on in our world that would make your stomach churn. Every day, people are raped and murdered by the masses. In the Middle East children are born and sold into white slavery and 10 year old girls are forced to marry 50 year old dudes. And with as much technological advances and as much money and food as there are in my world, there are still countries ridden with disease and poverty, while others have so much wealth they have no idea what to do with it all," I muttered. Aragorn was silent for a moment.

"Your world sounds terrible quite frankly," he said, chuckling a bit. I sighed.

"There are bad aspects and there are good aspect. To people who have lived normal, happy lives it's not so bad. Other people tend to see the darker side of things. I guess I'm just one of those others," I whispered, staring off into the darkness. I suddenly realized how exhausted I was and I slumped against Aragorn's arm.

"We won't be here for very long, so you might not want to get too comfortable," he reminded me. I struggled to keep my eyes open.

"I know," I murmured into his shoulder, "I'm just resting my eyes." He laughed again, a soft grumbling sound, and stroked the hair back from my face.

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**BTW, italics are Elvish.**

Legolas glanced over at Aragorn and frowned when he saw Lena nestled against his shoulder. Aragorn was playing with his blade and kept on shooting looks at Lena to make sure that he didn't wake her up. Goodness knows, the poor girl needed her sleep. Legolas quickly wrapped up his conversation with Gimli and crouched down next to Aragorn. The ranger glanced up at the blonde prince with an amused smile on playing on his lips.

"_Envious, my friend?" _Legolas stared at Lena's sleeping form, huddled into Aragorn's side. Aragorn put the blade away and clapped a hand on Legolas' shoulder. "_You know I am merely teasing, Legolas." _Legolas grinned good naturedly at the man and pushed his hand away.

"_I know, Estel," _Legolas said gazing at Lena longingly, "_She is quite pretty when she is sleeping." _Aragorn smiled and held his breath as Lena whimpered and cuddled closer to him.

"_She is a very pretty child. But she is just that. A child," _Aragorn reiterated when she stopped moving. Legolas frowned at the ranger and stood up. "_She stays with us for now, but when this adventure is over, what do you think will happen to her? That is, supposing she lives through it, of course." _Legolas thought about it for a moment.

"She has no idea how to get back to her own world. Perhaps…" he mused. Aragorn cut him off sharply.

"_You know as well as I do that Elrond would never let you take her back to Mirkwood with you. He will keep her safely in his palace to live until she has lived out her life or he finds a way to put her back. She is mortal, my friend. Even if you were to take her back to your kingdom, what would you do? With each passing day, you will watch her grow old and weak, her sweet blonde curls will fade to gray, the supple limbs turns crooked and bent-" _Aragorn hissed. They were starting to draw looks from the rest of the company. Legolas cut him off this time.

"_Perhaps this is something that you and Arwen should discuss," _Legolas shot back, glaring at the man, his cold blue eyes fiercely clashing against Aragorn's normally peaceful dark blue ones. Aragorn was shocked that his friend would deal him such a low blow. Legolas walked away and sat down on a rock on the other side of the tunnel and refused to look at the ranger. Gandalf decided that this would be a good time to get everyone on the move.

"We will walk for another 4 hours and then make camp for the night," he announced, glancing back to see everyone getting up. Aragorn shook Lena awake, and she stretched her arms above her head and grinned.

"Dude, I'm like so effin starved. Not even kidding, yo," she muttered. Gandalf shook his head, wondering what in the world she just said. Half the time the girl never said anything, and the other half of the time Gandalf couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. He had a suspicion no one else knew either.

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Okay so there was most deff something wrong with Legolas and Aragorn. And of course because I'm a nosy bitch like that, I decided to take it upon myself to find out what the problem is. I started with Legolas since Aragorn looks kind of scary when he's mad. I hung back a little and walked next to Legolas, who looked down at me suspiciously. I tilted my head back and gave him my best look-at-me-I'm-so-cute look, which made him even more suspicious.

"Hi!" I said cheerfully.

"What do you want?"

"A million dollars and to get back home. But since that isn't happening right now, why don't you tell me why you and Aragorn are being stupid?" Legolas frowned at me.

"We are not being stupid. It was merely an argument between friends. It is nothing at all." I glared at him.

"Bullshit. Tell me why you guys are mad at each other," I demanded. Legolas rolled his eyes and ignored me. I put both hands on my hips and started to move next to Aragorn.

"Where are you going?" Legolas wanted to know. I stuck my tongue out at him and moved up to the front of the line. I gave Aragorn the same sunny smile I gave Legolas, and he gave the same suspicious look that I'd gotten from Legolas.

"Hello!" I said.

"What are you up to, _alag firiel_?" Aragorn teased. I groaned softly.

"People need to stop using Elvish around me. I don't understand it!" Aragorn chuckled and I felt his mood brighten considerably.

"It means 'impetuous maiden'" he elaborated with a grin, "Now what do you want, although I can probably already guess." I smiled back.

"Well then I don't need to ask. Now tell me."

"It is between Legolas and I and does not concern you," he said, looking straight ahead. I grabbed his arm and pouted. He laughed again.

"Child, leave it be." I sighed and let go of him.

"Fine, but I'll find out eventually," I warned. Then I had a sudden idea. "Maybe I'll ask Galadriel if I even make it to Lothlorien," I murmured to myself. I looked up and saw Aragorn's eyes widen.

"What did you just say?" he demanded. I gave him the most innocent expression I could manage.

"Nothing!" I chirped. He glared at me suspiciously and I fell back in line with the hobbits. The trip continued for hours until finally Gandalf stopped us.

"We will rest here for another hour or so and then continue our journey," I was incredibly starved, and Borimir and Legolas distributed a small portion of _lembas _bread to everyone. I took my share and crawled over to where the hobbits were sitting. I sat there and listened to them reminisce about the Shire, and the various pranks they pulled and the stories the older hobbits used to tell them when they were children. I actually managed to relax and fell asleep in a half hour. I was shaken awake in what seemed like only a few minutes, and we continued on. We passed through a doorway which led to a flight of old stone steps. As we were passing through, we all looked down to see shafts and scaffoldings. It looked like the dwarves had been in the middle of a huge mining operation when they were chased out of Moria. Our footsteps echoed loudly in the huge, silent cavern, and it was so deep we couldn't even see the bottom. Merry leaned over to take a closer look, his eyes wide as quarters, but Pippin put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.

"What happened here?" Borimir muttered. Gandalf looked at him and smiled faintly, his lips curling ever so slightly.

"This, Borimir, is a mithril mine. As I've already explained, mithril is very rare and precious, and the largest amount ever to be excavated from below the earth was found in Moria," Gandalf explained. We all stopped for a moment and just looked, and I suddenly realized how sad it all was. It looked unfinished. The dwarves hadn't even had any warning, no time to even try to escape. They were trapped.

"My God," I whispered, shaking my head sadly. Gandalf nodded at me, and I had a feeling he knew exactly what I was thinking. "Imagine, to see this place when it was still up and running." I could almost picture the glitter of the rocky walls surrounding us, the heat of the fire below which would be used for melding and shaping the mithril, the sounds of the dwarves hacking away at the walls, laughing and talking with each other in their own gruff language. Gandalf nodded again.

"Yes. It was most certainly a wonderful sight to behold in the old days," he agreed. We started climbing again, and suddenly I heard a cry from behind me. I jumped and looked around, just as Aragorn grabbed Pippin. I realized suddenly that he ahd only slipped. He grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said softly. Everyone rolled their eyes and I put my arm around Pippin and continued walking. We passed through another doorway and down another shorter tunnel before we came to three doorways. Gandalf halted and everyone looked confused. Gandalf looked around, suddenly unsre of himself.

"I have no memory of this place." He glanced at one doorway to the other, and my stomach tightened. I felt sick and I would've gotten sick right there if I had actually eaten anything that day. He looked at the rest of us.

"We will have to rest here for now until I decide which tunnel to use," he said. Everyone gave sigh of relief and threw down their stuff. I sat down with the hobbits and tied my hair back.

"Are we lost?" Pippin whispered. I nodded my head slightly, but Merry glared at me.

"No," he whispered back. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah we are," I interjected

"Shh! Gandalf's thinking," Sam hissed. I frowned.

"Well obviously not fast enough," I whispered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Frodo, who was talking with Gandalf, grab the hilt of his sword and look behind him. I grew nauseous again when I realized that they had found Gollum. I groaned inwardly, wanting nothing more than to wake up and find out that this was nothing more than a very bad dream. Frodo and Gandalf got really quiet and serious, so I stopped paying attention to them.

"Merry?" whispered Pippin, shaking the other hobbit's shoulder.

"What?"

"I'm hungry." Sam and Merry both sighed and covered their faces with their hands.

"Me too," I mumbled. The other three hobbits looked at me, Sam and Merry incredulous, and Pippin grinning triumphantly like he'd won the mile. I heard a quiet burst of laughter and looked over at Legolas to see him smiling and shaking his head at me. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled sheepishly. I walked over and sat down with them. Gimli looked up.

"Well hello there, young lass. Master Elf and I were just speaking of you," Gimli said, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. "Actually, the princeling over here was doing most of the talking." Legolas blushed furiously and I grinned at Gimli.

"What exactly was he saying about me?" Gimli looked at me and grinned back as Legolas shook his head and blushed redder. Gimli stroked his beard and pretended to think.

"You know, my dear, I can't quite remember. Perhaps Legolas would like to remind me," he finally said. We both looked at the elf expectantly. He glared at Gimli.

"_Sûl tôl o nîf gîn,"_ Legolas hissed, and walked off to talk to Borimir and Aragorn. Gimli and I fell to laughing as quietly as we could, which was not very quiet at all. Legolas glared again, and Borimir and Aragorn looked back and forth from us to Legolas.

"We are enjoying this way too much," I whispered, wiping a tear from my eye. Gimli nodded, but before he could speak, Merry jumped up.

"Gandalf's remembered!" he cried.

"No I have not," Gandalf corrected as everyone gathered up their things, "but the air does not smell as foul down here." he rested a hand on the hobbit's shoulder and leaned down. "When in doubt Meriadoc, always trust your nose." Merry nodded wisely and we all followed the wizard into the tunnel. I tried talking to Legolas but he was still mad at me and Gimli, so I just decided to stick with the hobbits.

"What in the world is the matter with him?" inquired Pippin. I shrugged my shoulders.

"No idea. We were only joking around and he got mad at me. The kid seriously needs to learn how to lighten up," I said.

"I heard that," Legolas said from the back of the line. I rolled my eyes at pippin and he laughed. We walked for another few hours, rested for about 20 minutes and then started walking again. My legs hurt and I was getting so tired I could hardly walk. I don't know how long we were walking before it opened into a great hall. There were huge stone pillars and the sheer size of the hall was incredible. I felt tiny and insignificant compared to these amazing structures that had been here for hundreds of years and seen so much. Everyone in the company gasped.

"Behold: the great realm and dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf," Gandalf announced. Legolas stepped up beside me, and I could tell that even he was beyond impressed.

"Now there's a real eye opener and no mistake," sighed Sam. We continued on into the great hall. After about 15 minutes, Gimli peered around a pillar and saw a small beam of light coming through. The whole company started forward, but Legolas had to literally drag me into the room. The ceiling and walls were cracked, and there was a great stone sarcophagus in the middle of the room, with a couple of crumbling stone steps leading up to it. There was a well with a rotting corpse sitting on the edge over in the corner, and I looked around, panicked.

"We can't stay here!" I whispered. Gandalf looked at me.

"What is the matter?" I backed away towards the entrance until I saw Pippin curiously looking at the corpse.

"Peregrin Took if you even go near that well I sweat to God I will chop off both of your hands and maybe that will teach you form ever making any kind of trouble again!" Pippin jumped, shocked that I had spoken to him like that, but at the moment I couldn't have cared less. Legolas watched me carefully and then put an arrow to his bow, keeping it pointed at the ground but cautiously studying his surroundings. Gandalf took a step towards and put his hands on my shoulders. He leaned down to look me right in the eyes.

"Lena, please. You are safe for now. And there is no other way out of the mines," he explained quietly, like you would to a crazy person. I jerked out of his grasp and drew my little knife. I shook my head and started to cry.

"No no no! It's Balin's tomb! They're coming for us!" I moaned, shaking uncontrollably. Gimli looked at me, with his mouth hanging open. He ran up the stone steps and read the inscription on the coffin. He sobbed when he read it, falling to his knees and whispering quietly to himself in whatever language the dwarfs used. Gandalf went over and read the inscription out loud. I sat down on the floor, rocking back and forth, trying not to completely lose my mind.

"'Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.' He is dead then. It's as I feared," Gandalf remarked sadly. He then saw a book lying near the steps and picked it up.

"We must move on. We cannot linger," Legolas whispered urgently to Aragorn. Aragorn nodded in agreement, both men poised to draw their weapons at any second. I stopped rocking and glared up at him.

"No shit! That's what I said in the first place! That's what I said before we even made it up to Caradhras1 But no. We had to let the fucking Ring-Bearer decide," I exclaimed, wildly gesturing to Frodo, who looked completely miserable, "And now, because of you people, there is the possibility that at least two people in this company are going to die before we even make it to the other side. So I hope you are all fucking enjoying this because you did it to yourselves you stupid asses!" I yelled, not even bothering to keep my voice down. Everyone stared at me before the full horror of the situation sunk in. Gandalf shook his head sadly and sighed.

"You knew about this?" Borimir asked incredulously. I threw my hands up in the air.

"Of course I knew! Do you honestly think I would've agreed with you about taking the Gap of Rohan if I hadn't known what was going to happen?" I screamed. Aragorn ran over and shook me, hard.

"Keep quiet!" he growled. I glared at him.

"They would've come anyways. At least this time it's my fault and not Pippin's. We were never going to make it out without a battle!" And suddenly we heard it. Drums booming in the distance, and coming closer. I moaned with horror and cried even harder. I looked around and snatched up a sword from one of the dwarf corpses. The sword was shorter than a regular sword, but it was bigger than my knife, and heavier too, I realized with a sinking feeling. Sam looked at Frodo, who was staring at a glowing Sting.

"Orcs!" yelled Legolas. He put an arrow to his bow and pushed me towards the hobbits. Borimir ran to the door and was greeted by a couple of arrows which narrowly missed his face. Aragorn ran to help him, yelling at me and the hobbits to stay back, a plan that I had no problem with. A loud roar was heard from outside the doors. Borimir leaned against the doors and sighed.

"Wonderful. They have a cave troll!" he yelled sarcastically. The hobbits and I drew our weapons, as did Gandalf. We looked at each other in silent defeat.

"It was nice knowing you," I told Gandalf. He nodded his head.

"I should have listened," he admitted. I took a deep breath and laughed, which came out sounding more like a shaking sob.

"I wasn't trying to protect you when I tried convincing you not to go. I was protecting myself. You'll be fine," I whispered. He looked at me, his eyes widening ever so slightly. I took a deep breath and faced the door, prepared for battle. Gimli jumped up onto Balin's tomb, and brandished his axe.

"Let them come," Gimli yelled with rage, "There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"

We all waited, and finally the first hole broke in through the door, with clawed hands reaching through. There were screams as Legolas shot an arrow into the whole. And then I braced myself. The door's broke open, and as the little demons broke through, the battle finally began. The men, the dwarf, the elf, and the wizard all tried to hold them off, but the Orcs broke through the little makeshift circle and came right for the hobbits and I. I screamed and jumped up on a the tomb of Balin.

"ohmyGodohmyGodohmyGOD!!" I screamed as an orc made it's way towards me. In panic, I quickly sliced wildly as soon as he was near enough, making a gash in it's neck. The thing grabbed at the wound but didn't stop moving. I took the opportunity to put the sword right through it's chest. I felt completely nauseous as I looked at the body of the vile looking creature that I had just killed, but I didn't have enough time to get sick. Two more came for me and I let out another scream. They came at opposite sides, and I went for the one on my right. It brought down it's sword, but I easily managed to block it since I was on higher ground. What I didn't expect was the force with which it was attacking me. I lost my hold on the sword and I scrambled around trying to get it back. The one that was on my left lifted it's sword, but before it came down on me, it stopped with it's hand in midair. The sword dropped from it's hand and it fell face first into the ground, one of Legolas' arrows sticking out of it's back. I sighed in relief and waved at Legolas, who nodded and continued to help Aragorn fight of a large group that came right for them. There was a sickening crash coming from the door as I grabbed the sword of the dead Orc, and I realized with dread that it was the cave troll. Legolas took a wild shot at the troll and the beast grabbed at the wound that the arrow had made in it's shoulder. I jumped down from the coffin so the troll's attention wouldn't be drawn towards me. An orc came at me and I swung the sword at him. Again, he was only wounded, but it surprised him so much that I took another swing, this time at his legs. The orc fell to it's knees, but I realized I wasn't strong enough to cut through any body parts, so I gave up and stabbed it in the chest. A group of them were starting to gather around me, realizing that I was the only girl and easily the weakest fighter in the out of the 10 of us. Aragorn and Borimir were too busy handling the troll, but Gandalf jumped in and started hacking away at then, while Legolas shot into the crowd at lightning speed. I tried to do my part, but the sword was too heavy, and I just plain didn't know how to fight. Finally Gandalf and I settled on a system. He distracted them and wounded them while I came up behind them and plunged my sword through their backs. It was going pretty well until I heard Sam yell from across the4 room.

"Frodo!" I looked up and saw the troll had practically skewered Frodo with a long iron rod it had found. I was so busy paying attention to the troll that I only looking up when I felt a sharp pain in my upper arm. I screamed in pain and looked at the arrow that had been lodged in my shoulder. The creatures, seeing that I had been wounded, started towards me. Gimli jumped in from out of nowhere and began furiously hacking away at them with his sword, and he was doing a pretty damn good job. He got about 15 of them and even more were falling. The place was pretty much cleared except for the cave troll. Through a haze I saw Frodo slumped in a corner. Pippin was on it's shoulders, his sword sticking out of the monster's head. Legolas took aim and shot upward, the arrow going through the troll's mouth and into it's brain. The troll stopped and stumbled a little, grabbing it's mouth, and finally it fell. I got up and ran over to Frodo, along with everyone else. Aragorn shook the hobbit, tears in his eyes. Finally, Frodo sat up and gasped, clutching at his chest. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and I gave Frodo a knowing smile.

"I'm all right. I'm not hurt," Frodo said, holding up a hand. Aragorn stared at him in shock.

"You should be dead! That spear would have skewered a wild boar!" I grinned and pulled Frodo's shirt up to reveal the mithril. Everyone laughed and Gimli fingered the material.

"Mithril! You are full of surprises, Master Baggins," Gimli told him. Frodo grinned, but suddenly looked at me. I felt faint and the pain in my right bicep was unbearable.

"Lena! You're wounded!" Frodo exclaimed. Everyone looked at me, and Aragorn's eyes widened as he studied my arm. There was more booming, and I stood up.

"Come on. I'm fine. We can worry about it once we've gotten out of here. I'm just glad I actually made it through that," I said. Gandalf studied me.

"You're sure you can make it?" he asked. My arm felt like it was on fire, but I knew that I could walk.

"Yeah. My arm hurts like hell, but I can still run for it," I said, breathing deeply. Gandalf nodded and called out for everyone to move, and everyone ran for the door as quickly as possible. Next stop was the bridge of Khazad-dûm.


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay I know you guys are dying for the next chapter and I promise, it's going to be another nice long one. But first I have a bone to pick with one of my "reviewers". Now I understand. Fanfiction is a site where you can just write and have fun and express your creativity your own way. I'm fine with that. If you think my story is bad, then don't read it. If you feel as though you have to send me a message telling me it's bad, I'm good with it as long as you do it in a nice, polite, constructive way. I would never deliberately flame someone else, so that doesn't give any of you bitches who think otherwise the right to do so. I'm not mentioning any names. Flame Rising, reviewer 34. But whatever. Long story short, I don't have time for people like that so don't take up my reviewers space because you think you're better than everyone else. That's it and enjoy the new chappy you guys :**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Lena. It is all the work of the brilliant J.R.R. Tolkien.**

The pain in my arm grew worse as we ran. After about 15 minutes, we all realized that the goblins and Orcs weren't chasing us anymore. Legolas said that he could still hear them all around us and sometimes we could see them, but they weren't doing anything to us. Gandalf looked around suspiciously, wondering why they weren't attacking. I racked my brain as everyone turned to me for an explanation. I tried to ignore the pain in my arm and think hard. I didn't remember this from the book or the movie. I had no idea what was going on. I sighed in defeat.

"I don't know what's happening. I remember them trying to attack and then…" I suddenly realized something that made my blood run cold. Aragorn watched me carefully.

"What is it?" he whispered. I couldn't move or speak. After shaking my head once and taking a few deep breaths I looked at Gandalf, and he seemed to know exactly what I was trying to say.

"Something is waiting for us at the end of the tunnel, isn't it?" Gandalf asked slowly. The hobbits looked to the end of the hall and backed away in fear. Gimli practically had to be held back to stop from charging past the company and into the dark of the tunnel. I nodded and felt my throat constricting. Gandalf sighed and started running towards the end, with everyone following after him. I felt like I was about to pass out, and I knew that I was losing too much blood. I stumbled a little and Borimir reached out an arm to steady me.

"Thanks," I gasped. He nodded at me.

"If we survive, then you can thank me," he replied. If he had said this to me yesterday I probably would've laughed. We kept running until suddenly we could see the goblins crawling down from the pillars above us, surrounding us. Now this is the part I remember.

"Just keep running," I yelled, urging them forward, "Ignore them!" we kept running but soon they had formed a circle around us, me and the hobbits in the middle, everyone else surrounding us. I could hear the little beasts snarling at us, and I looked over Gimli to see what was going on. They had us surrounded, and I realized for the first time just how ugly they were. Their shrunken, slimy bodies were bent and reminded me of the little creatures in "Gremlins". As they advanced, there was a light at the far end of the tunnel and a loud roar. The goblins shrieked and scurried away, and I wasted no time. As soon as the devils started retreating, I broke through the circle and ran for dear life, the rest of the company following my lead.

"Gandalf! What is this new devilry?" yelled Borimir.

"Balrog," I yelled over my shoulder, clutching my arm. I couldn't even feel it anymore. I knew it was a bad sign, but the way I saw it, at least now I wouldn't be distracted from getting away from the Balrog. We finally made it to the end of the hall and through a large doorway at the end. We went through a narrow passage and down a flight of crumbling stone steps, but the last segment was missing. I stops in time, but Borimir didn't see and ran into me. I screamed and clawed desperately at the air, but felt someone tug me back. I turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Borimir's face.

"You know, you could've just let me fall and you would never have to deal with me again," I yelled, following Aragorn down to the bridge. Borimir grinned at me.

"It would've been too easy." I laughed quietly under my breath, but stopped when we came to a gap in the stairs. Legolas ran ahead and leaped lightly over the gap, Gandalf quickly following suit. He held out a hand and motioned for the next person to jump. The next person just so happened to be me. I took a deep breath and started to take a running jump, but an arrow whistled right by my head. I jumped and saw Legolas shoot right into an orc on the far ledge of the giant cavern. I took a deep breath and started to try again, but freaked when I saw how far I had to jump.

"I can't do that!" I screeched. Borimir glared at me.

"Just jump, Lena!" he yelled as he grabbed Merry and Pippin to him and leaped over the gap. I shook my head and backed away. Legolas was still shooting at the Orcs and goblins, which were starting to increase in number. I took a deep breath and backed up a few feet. I ran as hard as I could and leaped right at the edge of the stairs, but realized quickly that I wasn't going to make the jump. I started to fall and grabbed at the edge of the bridge, hanging on for dear life. I started to cry and whimpered as I looked down into the shadowy chasm beneath the bridge.

"Pull me up! Jesus Christ pull me up!" I screamed. Borimir grabbed my arm and pulled me up, just as Aragorn tossed Sam from the other side. I stood up, trying to catch my breath. I flung myself at Borimir.

"Oh my God thank you so much! You have no idea I'll never ever make fun of you ever again!" I cried. There was a searing pain in my upper right arm and I yelped and grabbed at my arm, remembering the arrow. It had never been as bad as it was now. It brought me to my knees and I felt like I was going to pass out. All I wanted was for it to stop. Legolas looked over at me.

"Borimir help her! I can not stop shooting!" he yelled with, quickly turning his attention back to the monsters. Borimir picked me up in a cradling position, and I saw that Gimli had made it, but Aragorn and Frodo were still on the other side. The gap had widened, and the stairs were beginning to become unsteady. Aragorn grabbed Frodo, and everyone backed away as there was a loud ripping sound and the stairs started falling towards us. A loud crash shook the bridge and Aragorn and Frodo fell forward to be helped up by Borimir. We started forward, but looked back when we heard it enter the hall. We turned around and watched in horror as the Balrog approached. In the movie they had made the Balrog look so cool, but as I stood there taking it all in, that it was real and that this thing could actually kill me, it became even more frightening. It's body was burnt and covered in flames, and it stood as tall as a the highest skyscraper. It wielded a whip made of fire, and as the monster came forward, it cracked the whip in our direction, the snapping echoing throughout the cavern.

"Over the bridge! Fly!" yelled Gandalf, turning back. I tried to tug on Borimir so that he would go back for Gandalf, but it was no use. He scooped me up and followed the fellowship across the bridge. When we had all reached the end, we turned around, waiting for Gandalf to follow, but he stood there gazing at the Balrog. The creature opened it's mouth and let out a terrible roar, and Gandalf lifted his staff. The Balrog took another step , trying to make it across the bridge to where we were, but Gandalf got it's attention.

"You shall not pass," Gandalf commanded. The Balrog roared and snapped it's whip, advancing once more. Frodo tried to run, screaming Gandalf's name, but Aragorn held him back.

"No Frodo! You can not help him!" Aragorn whispered, the tears shining in his eyes.

"I am the servant of the secret fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor…" Gandalf shouted, his staff still raised at the Balrog. The Balrog took a step back and snapped the whip. "The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udûn!" The Balrog hissed at Gandalf and made it's way over to Gandalf.

"You shall not pass!" Gandalf yelled. The Balrog charged at him, his whip of fire raised and ready. Gandalf slammed the staff down in front of him and there was a huge flash of light as the bridge started to crumble in front of him. The Balrog tried to rush at Gandalf, but fell into the abyss along with the crumbling bridge. Everything was silent, we couldn't even hear the Orcs and goblins. Everyone but me breathed a sigh of relief. Gandalf turned towards us and smiled, making his way to the exit slowly. I sniffled and waved my hand in a good bye motion. He gave me a confused look, until we all saw the whip come up. Gandalf didn't even see it until the whip was wrapped around his ankle and dragging him down along with the Balrog. Frodo rushed forward to help, but once again Aragorn held him back. Legolas and Borimir started towards the bridge as Gandalf strained to hang onto what was left of it. There was dead silence except for Frodo screaming. Gandalf looked at me and I burst into tears and shook my head.

"I told you. I told you," I sobbed. Gandalf stared into Frodo's eyes, and it seemed he stopped fighting it. He gave a gasp as he was tugged farther down.

"Fly you fools," he hissed. And then he was being dragged down.

"No!" Frodo screamed, fighting to be free of Aragorn. No one in the company moved. I think we were all too shocked. Hell, even I was shocked, and I knew the whole time that it was going to happen. And then again, so did he. Gandalf sacrificed himself for us, and I decided that the worst way we could ever repay him would be to sit there and get shot by the Orcs and goblins which were starting to reappear on the ledges and rain arrows down upon us. Legolas was the first to snap out of it. He shook his head quickly, a tear still sliding down his face, and ran up the stairs to freedom. Gimli quickly followed suit, and Borimir scooped me up again and hustled the hobbits up the steps after Gimli. Borimir turned back around and saw Aragorn still looking at the bridge that Gandalf had been hanging onto only seconds ago.

"Aragorn," Borimir yelled. Aragorn quickly turned and followed us up. We burst through the mine's exit and stopped. At first no one could speak or talk, but soon enough Gimli found the words. He started swearing Dwarfish and hacking at the rocks around him with his axe. Borimir had been quietly crying, and after setting me on a boulder a few feet away from the gaping cavern he went over and restrained the dwarf. The two men stood there together, crying softly at the horrors that had befallen us in the mines. Merry and Pippin sat on the hard, rocky terrain, sobbing in each other's arms. Legolas walked over to me. He wasn't crying, but he didn't look well either. His face was blank and the look in his cold blue eyes grief-stricken.

"I can't believe he's gone," he whispered faintly. I sniffled and a strangled sob escaped form my throat. It was all my fault. I should've stopped him from coming here. It shouldn't have happened. I laid my face in my hands, silent sobs racking my body.

"Legolas, get them up," I heard Aragorn call out. I lifted my face up to look at him in disbelief. He had sheathed his sword and lifted Sam up onto his feet. The poor hobbit's face was bright red and he couldn't stop the tears from running down his ruddy cheeks. Legolas shook his head slowly and glared at Aragorn. Aragorn ignored him and continued to disturb the other Merry and Pippin. Borimir stepped up to Aragorn and wiped his face with his hands. When he spoke his voice was low and shaky.

"Give them a moment," he yelled at Aragorn, "For pity's sake!" Aragorn glared at Borimir and Legolas.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs. We must reach the forest of Lothlorien," he said evenly. His voice was calm and he made perfect sense, the voice of sanity when all of us were too grief stricken to step up and take lead right away. But at that moment I hated him for it. I wanted to sit and rest. My arm hurt so much…

"Lena," Legolas yelled, shaking me. My vision was blurred and I could vaguely hear him calling me.

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Aragorn watched the others slowly get themselves together. They had all been reluctant to go until he had brought Lena's injuries to attention.

"We must get to Lorien before it is too late. If we cannot get there in less than 5 days, she will bleed to death." He was very worried about her. They were all in grief over Gandalf's horrible passing, and to witness Gandalf falling into the abyss along with that monster was almost more than Aragorn could bear. But he knew that they had to move on, not only for their old friend, but for the safety of the company and Lena's health. Underneath all of the dirt and grime, the girl's light golden complexion had been reduced to a pale ashy color. Her curly red-blonde hair was limp and dirty. Aragorn stepped closer and kneeled down to inspect her arm. The arrow had pierced her right through her arm. He did not want to take the arrow out. As long as it was in there, she would not bleed too badly, but she needed rest in a comfortable bed, and they had forgotten their bags as they were running through the mines, so he did not have the wrappings she needed. He was at a loss of what to do. He felt a rush of pity that someone so young should see such pain and suffering, as she sat there, gray and small and shivering, the rivulets of sweat running down her face. Her bleary brown eyes looked at him, and she whispered something intelligible.

"What did you say?" Aragorn asked. She shut her eyes and laid down. Legolas became paler than usual when he took in her bloodied arm and gaunt face.

"We have to take the arrow out," Legolas stated flatly. Aragorn sighed.

"For now we must leave it in. When we are farther away from here we will take it out, but for now it must wait, _mellonamin_." Legolas regarded him with sad eyes before he nodded and picked her up. They all started down the mountain. It was a silent trek, the hobbits speaking amongst themselves every once in a while or Borimir and Aragorn discussing directions, but mostly it was quiet. When they reached a dale of clear gurgling water some hours later, Aragorn announced that they would rest there for the night. He, Borimir, Legolas, and Gimli needed to take care of Lena. The child was still half awake. After they had set a fire with a rock and bits of wood they found by the stream, the hobbits settled in a group near the fire and the men took Lena over so the hobbits would not have to see. They lay her out on the grass, and Legolas patted her cheek. Lena looked up at him, eyes unfocused.

"I'm tired," she murmured.

"I know, _lirimaer_," Legolas responded quietly, stroking her hair, "but we are going to help you get well and you must be awake when we do it." Legolas took off his vest and he, Borimir, and Gimli looked away. Aragorn stripped off Lena's long sleeved shirts and put her in Legolas' vest so that she would be covered while they took the arrow out.

"Borimir and Gimli, hold down her legs. Legolas, pin her arms straight out. I don't want her moving while I do this." The three friends obediently did what they were told as the hobbits looked over with curiosity. Aragorn had everything he needed with him. A dry rag, a wet piece of cloth, and his small blade. He lifted her arm up a bit and snapped of the arrow head. Lena shrieked and tried to get up, but the other three would not let her move. She was fully aware of what they were doing now, and she desperately struggled to escape. Aragorn took a deep breath and laid wrapped his hand around the arrow. Lena started to cry.

"_Dina! Goheno nin," _he whispered. With one great tug, he pulled the arrow quickly out of Lena's arm. There was a sickening sound of raw flesh being torn at, followed by the girl's blood-curdling screams of pain. The hobbits all ran over to see what was wrong and looked ill when they saw Lena's arm. "Get back!" Aragorn shouted to the hobbits. Lena lay there sobbing and screeched when Aragorn tried to wipe down her arm. With Legolas, Borimir, and Gimli holding her, he was able to bandage her arm up and calm her so that they would not attract any unwanted attention. They were not quite as far away from the mines as he could like, but he knew that they were close to Lorien. They could possibly make it there before nightfall tomorrow if they moved quick enough. A quiet groan came from below him and he looked down at Lena, who was still clutching her arm. Legolas had moved beside her and was holding her hand, whispering comforting words to her in Elvish. He felt a rush of pity. The elf was older than he was, yet he still allowed himself to be as foolish as to develop such a strong attachment to this child. Aragorn and Borimir moved away towards the stream and watched the moonlight glitter on the stream's surface. There they let the grief of today wash over them, and silently they let the tears run down their cheeks without feeling ashamed or childish.

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When I woke up again, my arm still hurt more than I could imagine. I had never felt this much pain in my life. Legolas had been watching me, but I told him to take a break. I needed to think. I gazed up at the sky. It was a dark violet color, and I could faintly make out the glitter of the stars as the sun got lower. I sighed and thought about the picture. And then I realized. I had left my bag in the mines. The picture of me and my family was still in there. I was never going to get it back! I felt the loss so sharply that it completely drowned out the pain of my arm. I thought about my family, something I had unfortunately stopped myself from doing in a very long time. For two long months I had been here. I wondered what was going on at home. My mother was probably a mess. Did she finally call Dad after so many years to tell him that I was missing? Did he come back home to help look for me? Or was he too happy with Nissa and his new family? I missed them so much. I shivered and noticed that all I had on was a vest like the one that Legolas had been wearing. I tried to sit up, but thought better of it. Without turning my head, I called Legolas over to me.

"Yes," he asked. His blonde hair came into view and I asked why I didn't have a shirt on. I turned to look at him and saw him blushing.

"Aragorn could not take out the arrow without being able to se the wound. Your sleeves were too long, so I gave him my vest," he explained. I realized with alarm what that meant, and my face heated up thinking about it.

"What did you see?" I demanded. He looked openly shocked that I would accuse him of it.

"Do you honestly think I would look?" he asked.

"You might be an elf, but you're still a dude. Guys have naturally perverted tendencies," I reminded him. He glared at me.

"No I turned around and so did Gimli and Borimir," he said indignantly. I thought it over carefully.

"So only Aragorn?" I asked. He nodded. I shivered, feeling majorly creeped out. But then again, I didn't have a freaking arrow in my arm anymore. And I felt kind of bad admitting it, but I so did not need Blondie seeing that. Aragorn I could handle. He's got a fiancé, or whatever they call a fiancé in Middle Earth. I wasn't sure what was going on with the elf, but I knew I sure as hell didn't want him looking underneath my shirt. He picked up a pile of clothing and tossed it at me, then turned around. I put my Elvish shirt on and removed Legolas' vest, which was incredibly hard to do since the shirt was pretty tight on me, but managed to get the vest off without accidentally flashing anyone, then put on my own long sleeved vest and sweatshirt. They were wet with blood on the right sleeve, and there was a large hole in the middle of the wet spot. I decided I could deal with it for now if it would keep me warm. Legolas put his vest back on and tied it up, then took a seat next to me. Aragorn walked over at that moment. He looked at Legolas and shook his head slightly, then spoke sharply to him in Elvish. He glared and responded back angrily, but the expression on Aragorn's face never changed, which seemed to enrage Legolas even further. I had no idea how scary Elves could be when they're angry. Legolas stalked off and sat with Gimli and Aragorn took Legolas' place. He took off his glove and put his hand on my forehead.

"Good. You don't seem to have a fever, and you are awake and responding well from what I can gather from Legolas," he said, smiling at me in the darkness.

"Yeah well, I don't know how long you'll be right about the awake part," I said. Aragorn chuckled and put his glove back on. I turned my head to look at him.

"What's going on with you two?" I demanded. Aragorn didn't look the least bit surprised about my question.

"I'm afraid you will have to explain to me what you are talking about," Aragorn said evenly. I glared at him.

"C'mon. You and Legolas have been mad at each other ever since that day in Moria." Aragorn sighed and looked down at the ground.

"We have not been angry with one another. It is merely a difference of opinion."

"Bullshit. Okay if that's true, what's the opinion?" Aragorn sighed again and laid down. I tried to roll over and get a better look at him so I would be able to tell whether he was lying or not, but a sharp pain in my arm stopped me. Aragorn laughed quietly.

"I have gone through much trouble to make sure that you get well, Lena. I would be greatly upset if you managed to injure yourself once again." I swore under my breath and lay still.

"Okay then. Tell me. Right now. I know it's about me so don't try to feed me some crap answer about how it's just business between you two. If it's about me, I want to know why," I said. Aragorn was quiet a moment.

"This fellowship has become quite fond of you. Even Borimir, who never expected he would even be able to tolerate you, would now risk his life for you, as he would for any of his friends. And since you are the only woman in this company and since you are so young, we all, even the hobbits, feel even more of an obligation and need to protect you than we would with anyone else," he started.

"But that's ridiculous! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I have to be treated like a piece of glass," I hissed. Aragorn held up a hand to quiet me.

"In your world, that is true. But here, it is the duty of the man to protect the woman. That is how every decent lad here is raised and that is the way it shall be for quite some time, so please do not try to argue with it. Legolas feels more of an obligation than anyone else, not because his feelings for you are stronger than anyone else's here, but because he feels differently about you than the rest of us do. To this company, we think of you as we would a younger sister or a dear friend. Legolas does not. I have warned him that to become so attached to you in this way is futile, because when all of this is over and Middle Earth is once again safe, you will go back to Rivendell to live out the rest of your life with the Elves and he will never see you again. If Lord Elrond decides to take the journey over the Sea, then your care shall be entrusted to me, and that is the way it shall be, and Legolas must accept this," he finished. I lay there stunned. The fact that these people, whom I hadn't even known up until a months ago, already had the rest of my life planned out for me made me angry, and I told him so.

"How can you stand there and say that to him with a straight face when the same exact thing is going on between you and Arwen?" I demanded. Aragorn pulled himself up on his elbows and his face came into my line of vision.

"Arwen and I have made the right decision. I refuse to let her give her immortality for me and that is why she will soon be leaving Middle Earth," he whispered. This time I did roll over to get a better view of him, ignoring my arm. I grinned at him, and Aragorn looked shocked.

"I did not think that this would be amusing to you," he said. I scooted closer, very excited to let him know the fantabulous news.

"She won't do it," I whispered, leaning in closer to him. His eyes became wider and he had to pull himself together before he could speak.

"What did you say?"

"Oh come on! The girl is in love with you! She isn't going to do it! I know all about it trust me. I won't ruin anything else for you like telling you why she stayed and all, but she never leaves. She stays here for you! Isn't that flippin' awesome?" I whispered back excitedly. I definitely thought Aragorn would be happy when he heard this, but then again I'm usually wrong about that kind of thing, so it shouldn't have surprised me when he grabbed my arm and pulled me right up to him so our noses were touching.

"I will not allow that to happen," Aragorn growled. And I thought the elf was scary when he was mad. Legolas had nothing on this guy!

"Damn it! Aragorn you're hurting my arm!" I yelled. I saw a pale hand clamp down on Aragorn's shoulder. Aragorn loosened his grip but didn't let go. Legolas put a hand on the ranger's wrist and whispered soothingly to him in Elvish, and Aragorn stood up and allowed himself to be led away from me over to the stream. I watched the silhouettes of the elf and the man over by the stream and could make out the figure of Legolas talk quietly with Aragorn and walk back over to me. I sat up and Legolas sat down. I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Why is it that I keep on doing everything wrong. First I let Gandalf die, and now Aragorn is mad at me because I told him about Arwen," I moaned. Legolas put an arm around my shoulder.

"Why were you two discussing Arwen?" Legolas asked. Not even realizing what a stupid move this could be, I started to tell him.

"Well we actually weren't talking about Arwen at first, I was actually asking him why two kept getting pissed off at each other and he told me-" I cut myself off and blushed. "Oops," I mumbled. Legolas smiled and looked up at the night sky.

"You were speaking of me," Legolas said quietly. He didn't even make it a question. He already knew the answer. I nodded slightly and became even more aware of his arm around me. It wasn't entirely awkward or uncomfortable, but the conversation was definitely making me more than a little nervous. Being an elf, he sensed this and started to pull away, but I was really warm and I had just started to get comfortable, so I didn't exactly want him moving. Not to mention the guy is a hottie. Make fun of me all you want, I don't care, but the guy is freaking gorgeous and he had his arm around me. So sue me for wanting him to stay exactly where he was. I put my hand on his arm, refusing to let him move.

"Don't you dare move. It's freezing out here and I was just starting to get warm," I warned him. He laughed and didn't say anything for some time.

"Sleep now, _melamin_," he said, laying me down. I looked up at him.

"What does that one mean? _Melamin_?" Legolas looked down and smiled.

"I said to sleep. You will never fully recover unless you rest," he said. He sat next to me and pulled out his small dagger and a thick stick he found on the ground. I decided to just let the subject go and watched him whittle until I fell asleep.  
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Okay people here are translations:

_Mellonamin_- My fiend

_Lirimaer_- Lovely one

_Dina_- Quiet

_Goheno nin_- Forgive me

_Melamin_- My love


	18. Chapter 18

**I know I know! I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. But I had to delete one of my other stories in the vamp category and made a new one. Plus I've been working on two new fanfics that I'm planning on putting on the site soon. Anyways, the point is I'm back for a new, long chapter. Oh and I'm just warning you right now, I put the part in the book about the whole blindfold thing cause they don't do that in the movies, but I had to return the book to the library like 2 weeks ago so if I accidentally change or skip something or it doesn't sound exactly right, it probably isn't, so let me know if I missed something or messed something up when you review. just warning you ahead of time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR. Not nearly creative enough for that. You people know what to do. R&R!**

"Mother fuck! Haven't you people ever heard of painkillers?" I screamed. One of the hobbits had woken me up to tell me we were leaving. I had forgotten about my arm until I tried to use it to sit up. I grabbed the place where the arrow had been while I waited for the pain to go away. Unfortunately, it only seemed to hurt worse. Aragorn strode over and carefully lifted me to my feet.

"When we reach Lothlorien you will be able to get help from the elves there. Their power of healing is far greater than anything I can do for you at the present time," Aragorn replied shortly. I glared at him. He shouldn't be in a pissy mood. He hadn't had anyone pull an arrow out of his arm just a few hours ago! Everyone gathered up their stuff and we continued our journey. Legolas and Gimli were walking together at the back. I walked up ahead with Aragorn and Borimir. Borimir looked over his shoulder and then back at me.

"What has he done?" Borimir inquired. I shrugged.

"That depends. Who exactly are you talking about?" Borimir laughed and leaned in closer to me.

"You and the elf have been inseparable since the beginning of this trip. Is something the matter?" Borimir asked quietly. I quickly took another look at Legolas, who was occasionally glancing over at me throughout his conversation with Gimli. Aragorn shot me a warning look. I rolled my eyes and glared at him.

"Aragorn whatever-your-last-name-is-I-don't-know-it-cause-im-not-a-big-enough-fan-of-the-books-to-go-searching-for-it, don't you dare look at me like that. It's not my fault he knew we were talking about him," I snapped.

"Just so everyone knows, I'm an elf. I can still hear you even though I'm back here!" Aragorn, Borimir, and I all rolled our eyes and ignored Legolas.

"This is why I stayed away from guys back at home. Because they're douche-faces," I sighed exasperatedly. Borimir and Aragorn stared at me. "No offense. I was thinking about the elf in particular." They both nodded sympathetically. "And I'm not mad at him. We had a serious…discussion …last night, so things are just a teensy bit awkward between us. No big," I continued vaguely. Borimir looked as though he knew exactly what the discussion had been about and grinned. Aragorn didn't think it was so funny. He moved to the back of the line and I looked back to see him whispering with Legolas. I groaned and stamped my feet. Borimir tossed back his head and laughed.

"Now now little one," he said softly, putting an arm around my shoulder, "do not become so upset. Everything will be fine. You will see." I leaned into him and sighed.

"Ugh. Yeah I know but still. Everything I do seems to go wrong. Why did Elrond put me in the stupid Fellowship? I know people in my world who would donate their kidney to be here right now! Why not one of them?" Borimir started to laugh again. "It's not funny!" I whined.

"Actually…" Borimir said. I pouted and we continued walking in silence for the next 45 minutes, until Aragorn came back. I grabbed his arm.

"What did you say?" I asked eagerly. Aragorn looked at me and smiled.

"We were working out our problems. It is no business of yours," he answered. I wrinkled my nose.

"You sound like you just got back from marriage counseling," I laughed. Aragorn glared at me.

"No."

"Yes. Leggie and Aragorn sitting in a tree. K-I-S-"

"Stop it!"

"I agree!" I heard Legolas yell from the back. I pouted.

"You guys ruin everything! The only fun I've had since before we left for this stupid quest thingy and you guys act like total sissies." Pippin spoke up from behind me.

"What are sissies?" Pippin asked.

"Never mind, Pippin," I replied. Aragorn grumbled something under his breath and shot me the Death Glare. I turned around and saw Legolas looking at me the same way.

"It wasn't funny," Legolas said. Borimir and I cracked up. It took every ounce of strength I had not to completely lose it.

"Shut up," I said. Aragorn and Legolas made sure to stay away from each other for the next few hours, until we came to a line of trees. Lothlorien. We all halted, a dark, foreboding feeling dropping over all of us. Frodo started fiddling with the ring again as he looked apprehensively through the trees. Gimli and Legolas moved up to the front.

"So…we have to go in there?" I asked nervously. Aragorn was the first to go in, followed closely by Legolas and Borimir. Gimli motioned for me and the hobbits to get behind him. I was going to argue that I wanted the front, but considering I don't have any skills, it was probably best I stay at the back. At least if we were ambushed from behind, I would be the loudest screamer. Me and the hobbits had already tested that theory.

"Stay close, young ones. They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods, an Elf-witch, of terrible power. All who look upon her, fall under her spell…and are never seen again…" Gimli whispered loudly. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, if she has so much power, you don't have to whisper cause she already knows we're here," I said, keeping my eyes on Frodo. He was looking around like a deer caught in headlights, and Sam was trying to get his attention. Gimli snorted.

"Well, here is one dwarf she won't ensnare so quickly. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox," he said, nearly running into Haldir's notched arrow.

"Well then Oh Great Gimli. How did he get here?" I asked loudly. Gimli gave me a nasty look and said something rude in Dwarfish. The blonde elf was slightly shorter in stature than most elves that I had seen since I've been here. He didn't look very much like the Haldir in the movie. His hair was more of a darker, honey blonde with natural blonder highlights running through it and his eyes were so light they were almost grey. His hair was a little longer than Legolas', and his voice wasn't nearly as creepy as it sounded in the movies. Actually, he had a very nice voice, almost musical and quite soft, yet he still gave off a regal demeanor. In short, he was so much hotter.

"The dwarf was breathing so loud we could have shot him in the dark," he told Aragorn. I laughed and Gimli glared at me.

"Well it's true," I exclaimed in my own defense, "I'm not an elf and I can hear you breathing from like a billion miles away!" Haldir cocked a golden eyebrow (No they weren't all black and bushy like they were in the movie where it looked like he'd gotten it colored at the Hair Cuttery). I blushed and put my hands behind my back. "Continue," I said. Then "Whoa! Where did all of these elves come from? I know there weren't this many when you first got here," I cried, in response to the three more elves that had filtered out of the trees when I wasn't looking. There was a very uncomfortable silence where everyone just stared at me. I flushed an even deeper red and motioned zipping my mouth shut. Haldir decided that I wouldn't push him any farther and he turned back to Aragorn. It seemed like they were having an argument, but I didn't really care, so I entertained myself by giving each of the elves a once over. I settled for staring at the most handsome, a tall red haired elf with cool gray eyes. Seriously, the guy was hot. I think he even surpassed Legolas, although this elf was way too serious. I wasn't even the one carrying the ring and he was mad at me. The guy needed to take that uber large stick out of his ass. I suddenly got a mental image of it and laughed before I could even think about it. The elf looked startled and glared at me, making me laugh even harder. He muttered something under his breath, and I think he was swearing. I cracked up and Pippin asked me what was so funny. I told him and at first he didn't get it. Then I saw him think about it harder and a huge grin spread out of his face. We both exchanged a look and snickered at the elf. The elf notched his arrow and stepped way too close, definitely an invasion of my bubble.

"_Ce pen-inn?" _he asked, his cheeks flaming red. Legolas had been speaking quietly with one of the elves, but when he heard the elf snap at me, he rushed to mine and Pippin's side.

"_Man agorech?" _Legolas demanded of the Ginger Elf. I grinned to myself, proud of myself for thinking up such a "clever" nickname for the stupid elf, and tried quickly to hide it from the elf, but Ginger Elf caught it in time and so did Legolas.

"What's so funny?" he asked. I put my hands on my hips and tried to look indignant. The hobbits all snickered behind their hands. Pippin had told them and they were all visualizing the same thing.

"Nothing. He's mad because I kind of laughed at him," I said. Legolas scowled at me and narrowed his blue eyes.

"Why were you laughing?"

"Um…no reason?"

"What did you do!"

"I didn't do anything. Ginger can't take a joke. Look, all I said was that he looked like he had a stick up his butt cause he looked all serious and everything. And then I got mental images of it," I admitted sheepishly. Legolas let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head.

"For once, can't you just act like a mature young lady?"

"But that's no fun." Legolas rolled his eyes and explained everything to Ginger Elf. GingE (yes I know quite clever isn't it?) at first seemed confused. Then angry. Then disgusted. And then just annoyance. Like the kind of look you give a guy when he makes a really crude joke about burping or farting. But it was worth it. To this day, it was so worth it, I can't even lie. Suddenly, Aragorn announced that Haldir had agreed to take us to see Galadriel, only they called her something in Elvish. I dunno. Then we had to be freaking blindfolded, which I think was stupid. Me and Legolas even argued a really good case as to why. He said because he was an elf and some kind of distant relative person. He knows people in high places. I claimed retardation and the fact that blindfolding me and expecting me to walk is practically asking me to commit suicide. Aragorn told me I was being overdramatic.

"Besides, it would not be fair for Gimli to be the only one blindfolded. If one of our own loses their eyes, so do we." And that was the end of it. Of course, after we started walking the elves soon realized that it was impossible for me to walk. Even with GingE leading me, I couldn't do it. I tripped every ten seconds. Actually, I blame it partly on GingE. I think he was trying to get back at me for making fun of him. Stupid, immature elf. Anyways, we had to slow done for me, but apparently I was still going too slow, so GingE just slung me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and carried me like that for the rest of the time. To pass the time, I ignored the elves that had decided to act as tour guides and were telling us about the forest and stuff and instead just started humming "My Strongest Suit" from "Aida" over and over again. GingE shook me kinda hard after the 10th time so I took it as the signal for me to shut up. I had to listen to Tour Guide Barbie the rest of the time until they finally put us down. It was dark out and the elves were unrolling a rope ladder from the tree. There was a really huge flat piece of wood all the way at the top. If I hadn't seen them take the ladder down, I never would have noticed it. It was decided that me and the hobbits would be sleeping in one tree with Haldir and his brothers. GingE and a few other elves would be in another tree with Aragorn, Borimir, Legolas, and Gimli. I felt a little better knowing GingE wouldn't be the one watching over me while I slept, and one look at his face when he found out the sleeping arrangements told me the feeling was mutual. But once up in the tree, I couldn't sleep. I snuck a worried look at Haldir.

"So you're sure I won't fall off of this thing?" I asked him. Haldir nodded.

"How do you know? What if I start having a nightmare and move around. There are no railings or anything on here!" Haldir sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Then I will catch you before you fall," he replied. I looked over the edge and felt sick. I decided that I called the middle of the platform and crawled over to my spot. But even then I still couldn't get to sleep. I just couldn't get comfortable. I listened to Haldir humming for awhile, some Elvish song. It was a really pretty song ,and I fell asleep almost instantly.

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They woke us up in the morning. Frodo and the other hobbits looked like they hadn't slept all night. I knew the feeling. I felt like total crap and was kind of sore from tensing my shoulders while I slept. The hobbits looked even worse. I poked Frodo in the shoulder and he turned bleary blue eyes to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked. The hobbits weren't the only ones acting weird. The elves were quietly talking amongst themselves, their faces somber. I stood up and went to the edge of the platform and looked across to the next tree. Aragorn and Legolas were speaking with two blonde elves and GingE. I swear to God, if I met any more blonde elves, I wouldn't be able to recognize Legolas anymore. Borimir saw me looking over and mouthed, "Orcs". My eyes widened and I made my way over to Haldir. He handed me my blindfold. I groaned and stamped my foot.

"I still have to wear this? I nearly killed myself yesterday, and I don't think GingE wants to carry me anymore," I complained. Haldir looked confused.

"Who is GingE?" I had forgotten that they didn't know about my nickname for him.

"Oh sorry. I mean, the red elf." Haldir cocked an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Mahtan?" he clarified. I nodded. "Yes you have been quite a challenge to him. But he will soon get over it," he replied. I gave a sigh of relief and clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"Good. Because I have more than enough boy problems already. I don't need one more," I confided loudly. Haldir stared at my hand on his shoulder and then back at me. I released him and clasped my hands together in front of me. "Sorry." He nodded and smiled at me and turned to talk with the other two elves who looked a lot like him, except less hot. They were blonde too. Jesus, this whole blonde thing was going to get annoying. I suddenly remembered the question I had wanted to ask him before. "Haldir wait!" The elf turned around and gestured for me to continue. "What's this about Orcs?"

"Did Legolas tell you?" he asked. I sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh my gosh. Legolas is not the only person I talk to! I have other friends!" Haldir once again raised his eyebrows. I even got a look from Legolas. Damn elves and their stupid hearing.

"A band of Orcs came through last night. We were not too concerned. It was the small creature that stayed behind. It walked with a bent back and we could hear it's heavy breathing as it struggled to climb up the tree. But we made some noise, and the creature left," he told me, looking even more worried. My eyes got wider and I threw my hands in the air.

"Gollum! You had the chance to shoot Gollum and you didn't! Do you even know what you've done?" I shrieked. Haldir looked surprised.

"You know this creature?"

"Duh! It's been following us for days and it tried to kill Bilbo. But I didn't read The Hobbit so I don't know anything else," I exclaimed, "Why am I even here? Obviously, nobody listens to girls in this world, even if they can tell the future!" I got another look from Haldir and I got a few other stares too.

"I will tell this to the other Elves. In the meantime, eat this quickly and put on your blindfold," Haldir ordered, handing me a crispy wafer-like thing. I stared at it for a few seconds before I realized that eh was actually serious about wanting me to eat this crunchy pastry that reminded me of a frozen toaster strudel. Frodo finally managed to convince me it was good and I ate it, feeling surprisingly full after wards. Then I climbed down the ladder and put my blindfold on. Mahtan refused to carry me, so I had to struggle the entire time to stay on my feet, although to be fair to the elf, he did catch me whenever I tripped. After hours and hours of walking, they finally took off my blindfold. I gasped as I set eyes on the grand elf city, Lothlorien.


	19. Chapter 19

Okay so here's the deal you guys. I only got two reviews on my last chapter and although I love dearly the two people who reviewed. Well okay actually I love the reviewer that sent the good review. The one that called me a Borimir hater, I've gotten worse reviews than that and if she had actually read ahead, she would've known that the Borimir hating does stop somewhere along the line. that's not the point though. The point is that if I don't get at least two more reviews, I'm not continuing the story.


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm back for chapter 19 and its going to be rlly long! Nine pages on Microsoft works! R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR!**

Lothlorien. Okay here's what the book and movie don't tell you. It's kind of scary. Yes it is very pretty. But come on. Eerie bluish silvery lighting, really dark, and it's surrounded by BIG FUCKING TREES! Oh yes. Another thing. The trees make noises. I expected that from Fangorn Forest. I remember that from the movies. I totally didn't imagine it for this place. We walked through the trees, and I noticed that there were actually houses up there shaped like Chinese lanterns. Once again, they were all radiating weird blue light. Aragorn and Legolas walked up front with Haldir. Gimli was grumbling under his breath and refused to look at anything around him, but I could tell even he was impressed. Mahtan walked stiffly beside me.

"Why aren't you up front with them?" I asked him. He glared at me and I pictured the stick again. I honestly tried the best I could to keep from smiling. I think he saw my lip twitch but he ignored it. Legolas glanced back and gave me a warning look. Geez. I am not five year old. I didn't need the almighty Legolas reprimanding me. Although I thought it was cute when he acted like a tough guy.

"Milady, if I could I would not be wasting time back here. But I have been assigned to protect the company's flank," he replied.

"Psht! I don't need anyone protecting my flank!" Mahtan rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Oh really? And exactly what will you do to protect your own flank?" I tapped my chin and thought for a moment.

"I don't have to do anything. I got Borimir and Gimli."

"Aren't we the lucky one." I stared blankly at him.

"Should I be grateful that you are under specific orders not to let anyone harm me?"

"Possibly." Well that was good to know. At least Ginger was scared enough of Galadriel and Celeborn to do what they wanted. If he weren't, my ass would be toast in an ambush. We finally came to a huge palace. Guess where it was? Yes. In a tree. W had to climb a staircase that wound around the tree trunk and finally came to a long marble platform with a large domed ceiling and bars around the edge of the platform. There was a short staircase ahead of us, where five armed guards stood tall and unmovable. Haldir and the rest of the elves fell out to the sides as Celeborn and Galadriel descended down the steps hand in hand. Both elves were tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, serene beings. Both had chiseled features and strong jaws. They weren't particularly beautiful but both were so radiant and peaceful that just the sight of them washed away every bad feeling you had up until that point. Celeborn glanced at each of us, his eyes resting on me for longer than the others. He seemed confused by my presence. I didn't blame him. After all, I was the only girl in the fellowship. We all got in a single line and bowed deeply to the golden couple. Celeborn addressed Gimli first.

"Gimli, Son of Gloin, I would like to begin my giving you my utmost apologies alluding to how you were treated on the journey to this city. I am deeply ashamed that we still cannot, even ion these hard times, put aside our differences and treat each other with respect when it is need. I sincerely hope that you will accept my apology and that we may put this incident behind. You are a friend here in Lothlorien and will be shown our best hospitality," Celeborn said warmly, bowing slightly to the dwarf (A/N: Since I don't have the book with me, that's not what he actually said word for word, but it sounded like something that Celeborn would say). He next addressed Aragorn, "The Enemy knows you have entered here. What hopes you had of secrecy are now gone." I picked up on the unspoken command to not mooch off of them any longer than necessary. Stupid Frodo and stupid ring. At least once we left I wouldn't have to sleep in any more trees. I hope. "Eight there are here, yet nine set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar." I was about to answer, but stupid Galadriel got all teary.

"Gandalf the Gray did not pass the borders of this land. He has fallen into Shadow," she whispered. Once again, I was going to say something, but then Legolas cut in.

"He was taken by both Shadow and Flame, a Balrog of Morgoth. For he went needlessly into the path of Moria," Legolas clarified vehemently. I put a hand on his arm to calm him down. Gimli bowed his head, and I felt bad for him. He had been the one that suggested the path to Gandalf. He didn't need Legolas making him feel even worse. The grief was plain of Celeborn's face and he gripped his wife's hand tighter. Galadriel, as usual, looked totally spaced out.

"Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in his life. We do not yet know his whole purpose," she answered sharply, coming out of her reverie. A twitch of embarrassment showed itself on Legolas' face, but it was only there for no more than a split second. She turned her gaze to Gimli and smiled graciously. "Do not let the great emptiness of Khazad-dûm fill your heart, Gimli, son of Glóin," she told him softly. Gimli looked up, startled, as she continued. " For the world has grown full of peril. And in all lands, love is now mingled with grief." The wrinkles in Gimli's face had deepened, his grief more intensified than before. Borimir was crying. Hell, I think everyone was close to crying. Except me. I could have tried to look like I was, but I'm not a good little actress. Galadriel stared a little longer at Borimir, who started crying even harder. Celeborn looked at us in pity and shock. I think the news about Gandalf was hard for him to swallow.

"What now becomes of this fellowship. Without Gandalf, hope is lost," Celeborn whispered to our little group. There was a silence as we realized that Celeborn could be right. Then Galadriel spoke up.

"The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all," she warned. Sam was staring at her in open awe. She smiled at the hobbit. "Yet hope remains while the company stays true." I glanced involuntarily at Borimir. I honestly did like the man. He was a good man, and I knew that in his heart he really did want to defeat Sauron and protect the people of middle earth. But I'd seen the movies. I'd read the books. And hopefully, Galadriel knew that. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace." Frodo caught her eye and started shaking. He turned away from her quickly and walked away quickly, struggling to catch up with Strider. Celeborn motioned for me to stay, and Legolas came back too. Celeborn gave the prince a long look.

"I wish to converse with the young lady in private. It will not take long, Legolas of Mirkwood," he told the elf. Legolas hesitated, unsure. "Evil has not yet touched Caras Galadhon. She is safe. I will send her along in only a few moments, if you wish to wait on the ground." Legolas squeezed my arm and bowed without a word. The golden couple gave him serene smiles and he ran lightly down the steps to the ground below. The man and woman watched me silently and I started to feel uncomfortable. I fidgeted around and put my hands behind my back. Galadriel was the one that moved forward first and looked into my eyes. I stiffened. I could feel her inside my mind, searching my heart and soul. It was scary and unpleasant. The faraway look came into her eyes again.

"She is not of this world, yet she has known of this journey long before it was to happen," she told Celeborn. Damn, she was good. The man joined his wife.

"I had wondered why Lord Elrond would be foolish enough to send a child on such a perilous quest." he expectantly waited for me to explain. I sighed and met their eyes, hard as it was for me to do.

"It would take much too long to explain why I got here, how I got here, my life before I ended up in Middle Earth. The only explanation I can give you that you could understand would be that I belong to a different time and somehow one day ended up here. It happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was in my world, the next I was in yours. Elrond gave me shelter and when he found out that I knew all about the ring and I thought the ring was creepy instead of alluring, he somehow thought that I would be of some help to the fellowship. I have no idea what he saw in me that would make him think I could be a hero of Middle Earth," I whispered the last part, shaking my head slightly. Galadriel put a hand on my arm and smiled.

"My son is not rash or prone to make foolish decisions. If he thinks you have some part to play in the fellowship, he may or may not be right. But for now, I see no evil in your soul, nor a sign of corruption by the enemy, and for that, you are welcome here in our kingdom," she said lightly. I looked up at the both of them and a wave of relief and exhaustion washed over me. My knees sagged and I felt my arm start to throb again. Celeborn frowned and looked at the bloody stain on the arm of my sweatshirt.

" Haldir will escort you to a one of the rooms in the palace. We will send a healer and fresh clothes for you, and afterwards you may join your friends. Mahtan will make sure that Legolas knows. Quel esta, child." Galadriel touched my hand in farewell and the two exited through a side hallway. Mahtan disappeared down the stairs and Haldir came to take my arm.

"Oh, um, I'm fine. It's okay I can walk on my own," I told him, surprised that he was being this nice. I had thought he didn't care for me much. Haldir shook his head and smiled.

"You are weary, and I am your escort. It is only proper." He was right. I hadn't realized how tired I was, and the throbbing in my arm was starting to get worse. It had been hurting ever since we came to Lorien, but somehow the pain had been less then.

"Where are the others?" I asked as Haldir started to lead me up the stairs that Galadriel and Celeborn had entered from.

"They have been given fresh linens and clothing. They will be shown the washrooms and be allowed to freshen up. After that there will be food brought to you and the rest of the fellowship. Please wait in here until we send someone for you," he said, pausing outside of a what looked like a wrought iron gate except in silver and all glowy and everything. He opened it and the room inside was very nice. It was a lit by the same eerie light and had silvery floors. There were about four twin beds in the room, a cabinet full of linens and bottles and other things, a chair in the corner with a small pile of folded clothes on top of it, and a white door on the left. I turned to face Haldir.

"This is a bedroom?" I asked. The blonde elf chuckled and shook his head.

"No, this would be the healing wing. The healer will be sent up shortly. Someone will be in to help you draw a bath. A healer will be sent up to take care of your arm. I will be back soon to check on you," he said. I took it all in and for once I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Wow. Thank you." Haldir bowed slightly when a beautiful female elf came up behind him. He spoke to her in Elvish, gesturing at me every now and then. The woman curtsied and Haldir left.

"I am Merdiriel," the elf said. She was tall, blonde, incredibly thin, but had deep green eyes that reminded me of Rhana's. She seemed nice enough. "I have been sent here to make you presentable for your stay here." Was I really that bad? I looked in a mirror and was horrified. I was pale. My hair was limp. I was covered in grime. My eyes were bloodshot. And I was also starting to recognize a horrible smell emanating from somewhere in the room that I was pretty sure was coming from me.

"Oh.My.God." Merdiriel nodded sympathetically. "Where's the nearest bath?" Merdiriel opened up the white door which revealed a large chamber. Inside were stone bath basins, a few ornate bowls, a shelf of linens on the side wall, and a mirror. Oh and another thing. No walls. Just the same kind of wrought silver walls that the door to the bedroom was made of. That made me feel better. Not. She went over to one of the baths and started to fill it up. I felt awkward just standing there.

"Do you want some help? " I asked. Merdiriel smiled at me and shook her head.

"No my lady. But I do thank you for offering," she replied.

"Oh. Okay. You don't have to call me 'Lady'. Just call me Lena." Merdiriel nodded again. The bathtub was full and she stood up.

"Very well, Lena. I will wait outside. Do not hesitate to summon me if you need any assistance," she said with a small curtsy. I called her back as soon as she had turned around. She waited expectantly for my command.

"Uh, where are the soaps and stuff?" I asked hesitantly. Merdiriel laughed and gestured towards the 2 bottles and the bar of soap sitting on the edge of the tub. "Oh. Which one is for my hair?" Merdiriel laughed again, a little harder this time.

"Mistress Lena, would it be better for you if I helped you freshen up?" I flushed and held up my hands.

"No I wasn't trying to hint for you to wash my hair for me or anything. I don't want you to act like my servant or anything," I said quickly. Merdiriel raised an eyebrow. Oh yeah. For the next 10 minutes she basically is my servant. I told her that her help in the bathroom wouldn't be necessary. With another curtsy she left the bathroom and I stripped down. I wadded around in it for a bit, got out and put a loose nightgown on, did my business, and left to find Merdiriel standing patiently by a bed with another blonde elf sitting in the chair beside her. The man, apparently, was the healer, and he never spoke a word as he washed the wound. The liquid that he used burned like hell and I gripped the arms of the chair tightly to stop myself from screaming. He wrapped it in a clean bandage, bowed and left. I grimaced and rubbed my arm.

"Damn it. That fucking stung. So can I go see my friends now?" I asked. Merdiriel smiled.

"Of course. Would you not like some proper clothes first?" she asked. I looked down at myself and shrugged. It looked fine to me. Merdiriel picked up a pile of clothes from the chair. I picked out the one on top. It was a dress. I sighed.

"Merdiriel. Now don't take this the wrong way. I mean, the dress is beautiful, but I'd prefer tights and a vest," I said cautiously, handing back the dress. She gave me an odd look, but left the room to find what I asked. She returned moments later with white tights, a pale blue shirt, and a white vest. She also returned with my now clean boots and what I'm guessing was a pair of socks for women. After I got dressed, Merdiriel brushed my hair and pinned it away from my face. I was finally finished. I thanked her gratefully and gave her a hug, which I think surprised her somewhat. She led me back to Haldir. After curtsying to Haldir and I she quickly scurried from the hall. Haldir didn't take my arm this time, but he walked close enough for it not to matter. He was invading my bubble a teensy bit, so I scooted away. The elf noticed and didn't move any closer.

"Is something the matter?" he asked. I flushed deep red and looked down as we descended the staircase.

"Uh no," I replied nervously. He rolled his head in a very un-elf-like manner and mumbled something in Elvish. I was getting pretty excited here. I will be officially the only person I know who will be able to swear in Dwarfish _and_ Elvish. Take that all of you die-hard Tolkien geeks! (A/N: If you are a die hard Tolkien geek please no flames!!) Haldir and I reached the bottom of the steps and he led me over to yes, another giant tree. But at least this time it was on the ground. Our beds were these big fluffy cots with really soft pillows and silky silver duvets. I pulled mine over to where Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn had set their's. Gimli was snoring loudly as he slept. Aragorn, who was sharpening his sword, reaching over and hit the dwarf's pillow. It elicited a small grunt from the dwarf, but the continued to snore, in fact even louder than before. Aragorn shook his head and continued to sharpen his sword. I saw putting a small candle in the stream and made my way over to him. I was too late to find out what they were talking about, but Sam stood up and recited the cutest little poem about Gandalf's fireworks:

"The finest rockets ever seen,  
"They burst in stars of blue and green…

Or after thunder…silver showers

Came falling like a rain of flowers"

The hobbit sat down next to Frodo and shook his head, his eyes wet with tears. "That doesn't do them justice by a long shot." Aragorn tossed aside his sword and walked away to talk to Borimir. I smiled and called out to Sam.

"I thought it was really sweet. In fact, I think it's better than what the Elves are singing." The hobbit blushed and grinned modestly. I stood next to Legolas for a few minutes, and then sat down, pulling him down with me. "So," I started, turning to face him Indian style, "I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever." He looked confused.

"I spoke with you only this afternoon," he reminded me. Apparently, elves don't get what an exaggeration is.

"Never mind. But you have to know what I mean. It's like things have been really…weird…with us. And I don't know why," I started. Legolas didn't face me. He just stared at the stream. He wasn't crying or anything. I guess when you're a prince, you're not supposed to cry or show weakness or whatnot. But he definitely wasn't well.

"I can't believe he's gone," he whispered. I considered telling him about the whole Gandalf not really being dead thing, but for once I decided to keep my mouth shut. I didn't know what to do to make him feel better, so I did what seemed to make me feel better when I was upset. I reached over and gave him a big hug. Not like the polite, playful hugs I gave him and the rest of the fellowship, but one of those "you're-my-friend-I'm-here-for-you" bear hugs. He was surprised at first and just sort of sat there for a second, but he finally warmed up to me and hugged me back. I released him, but was still holding his hand. And no. It was not on purpose. I didn't realize I was doing it. Until he just kind of stared at my hands in his for a second. I tried to pull away, but he gripped me tighter.

"Um…Legolas?" Legolas looked at me, and the grief and pain was plain on his face.

"My good friend has died only two days ago. For hundreds of years I have known the Mithrandir. But I'm still thinking of you." Oh. Back to that topic.

"Listen Legolas, you're very nice. You're brave. You're definitely the most handsome elf I have ever seen. You're a prince. And many elf-maidens would love to be your wife. But I'm human. Not only would you be giving up your immortality. But if I ever have a chance to go back to my own world, I will not hesitate to take it. Do you understand?" Legolas smiled.

"How could I ask anything less of you?" he whispered, touching my cheek. Crap. That wasn't how it was supposed to work out. Now, how to put it delicately.

"Yeah, Legolas. But You're probably like a thousand years older than I. I mean, in elf years, I'm still a baby. Wouldn't you rather have someone more mature and sophisticated. Someone who could actually be a princess," I asked. Legolas started to respond, then stopped. His hand fell from my face and he released my other hand.

"I see. You do not want to be with me," he said sadly.

"No it's not that!" He looked up hopefully. "I mean, um, well, it's just, I don't want to be with you like _that_. I'm not ready to save the world or be princess of Mirkwood. I don't want to be married and have the other…shall we say…_responsibilities_…if you get what I mean…of being a wife and soon after that, a mother. You're looking for someone to spend the rest of eternity with. A loving wife, competent mother, and diplomatic princess soon to be queen. I am none of those things. Its not fair to anybody." The elf bowed his head and gave a defeated sigh.

"You're right, of course. But I wish with all of my heart that it were not so. That we could be together forever. But it shall not happen. I want you to know, I did not want any of those things until I met you," he confided. I felt so sorry for him, that I am not responsible for what happened next. I plead temporary insanity from knowing I was the cause of the Legolas' heartbreak. I kissed him. Not a gross, full-on make out kiss. Just a light peck on the lips. He pulled away and continued to stare at the stream until our food was brought to us. We ate in silence and we crawled into our separate cots in silence later that night. We watched each other until I saw the blank, restful look in Legolas' eyes and knew he was asleep. I fell asleep soon afterwards.

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The next day there was a joyful feast held in our name. There was music and, my favorite part, lots of food. We talked and talked for hours. And then it was time to say farewell. We all gathered in front of Galadriel. We were given beautiful green Elven cloaks that Galadriel and Celeborn claimed would conceal us on any sort of terrain. They were attached with what looked like emerald and gold brooches cut in the shape of leaves. Then the royal pair presented each of us with a gift. Merry, Pippin, and I got our own daggers.

Legolas got a special bow. Sam got unbreakable rope.

"And what would a dwarf ask of the elves?" Galadriel asked Gimli. He blushed and looked at the ground.

"Nothing. Except to look upon the Lady of the Galadhrim one last time, for she is more fair than all the jewels beneath the earth," he replied vehemently. The Lady giggled and beamed at the dwarf. But suddenly a change came over him. "Actually, there was one thing but…that's quite impossible. Stupid to ask." Galadriel leaned over and he whispered something her ear. She smiled and nodded. Then she came to Aragorn.

"I have nothing greater to give, than the gift you already bear. Am meleth dîn. I ant e-guil Arwen Undómiel…pelitha." Aragorn met the Lady's eyes with tears in his own.

"Aníron i e broniatha ar periatham amar hen. Aníron e ciratha a Valannor," he told her. The two shared a moment of silence. She laid a hand on the man's shoulder.

"That choice is yet before her. You have your own choice to make, Aragorn… to rise above the height of all your fathers since the days of Elendil, or to fall into darkness… with all that is left of your kin." Aragorn nodded. She softly whispered something else to him in Elvish and turned to Frodo.

""Farewell, Frodo Baggins. I give you the light of Eärendil, our most beloved star," she told him gently, handing him a crystal teardrop filled with water and a clear white light. She kissed him on the forehead and we made to board the boats. When we were all leaving, I glanced back to see the Lady Galadriel pluck three golden hairs from her head. As everyone was getting our gear into the boats, I noticed Legolas talking to Merry and Pippin holding up the crusty toaster strudel (which actually wasn't too bad). I walked over to hear the end of the conversation.

"One small bite is enough to fill a grown man's stomach," Legolas explained. He nibbled off a little piece and smiled at me as I walked over.

"Hey," I said. Legolas waved and ran off to help load the boats.

"How many of those did you eat?" Merry hissed at Pippin. The hobbit thought for a moment.

"Four." Wow. I'd eaten six. I had a feeling I was going to regret that later. We set off down the river. I rode with Legolas and Gimli. Gimli told Legolas about Galadriel's gift and I choked back laughter. It was so sappy, but I had to admit it was very sweet. Who knew Gimli had a sentimental side? It was a long time before we finally passed underneath a huge cliff. Legolas cast a wary look to the riverbank on our left.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He just shook his head and kept paddling, glancing every now and then at the riverbank, and titling his head to listen to some sound that we couldn't hear. Hours later, darkness fell and we paddled over to the riverbank on our right. We pulled the boats onto it and made a fire. We talked occasionally, but mostly we sat eating our _lembas_ in silence. Borimir suddenly got up and squinted at a passing log in the river. Aragorn followed and saw exactly what I saw. Two grimy little hands on top of the log. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't help overhear what they were saying.

"Gollum," Aragorn whispered, "I had hoped we would lose him on the river, but he is too clever a waterman."

"And if he alerts the enemy to our whereabouts it will make the crossing even more dangerous," Borimir whispered back loudly. Frodo and I exchanged a dark look. Later, I fell asleep to Borimir and Aragorn arguing in hushed voices.

"…scared of who you are; of what you are…" That was the last thing I heard before I drifted off into a restless sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

**So I definatly reread the chapter after I posted it and found so many little grammatical and historical errors in there, if you caught a mistake while reading the previous chapter, you were most likely right. And don't worry. I'll be sure to go over this chapter again very carefully before I post it. I was just so excited about the last one that I forgot to proof read. Oh and here are the translations from the last chapter:**

**I have nothing greater to give, than the gift you already bear. Am meleth dîn. I ant e-guil Arwen Undómiel…pelitha : For her love, I fear the grace of Arwen Evenstar… will diminish**

**Aníron i e broniatha ar periatham amar hen. Aníron e ciratha a Valannor : I would have her leave these shores, and be with her people. I would have her take the ship to Valinor**

**Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR!**

We left at daybreak the next morning, pushing our boats into the cool stream. After paddling for some amount of ungodly hours, we came to these huge statues. I was once again riding with Gimli and Legolas when we came upon the colossal figures made of chipped white stone. They were dress in battle gear, and a hand of warning faced the fellowship. I felt my jaw drop open as we passed them.

"Whoa! What were those?" I asked Legolas. He chuckled at the expression on my voice. But I couldn't help it. The statues were more than impressive.

"That is the Argonath. Kings of old, and kin to Aragorn," he replied. We talked about other things for a while until early in the afternoon we stopped at the bank to eat and rest for awhile.

As we stepped onto shore, Aragorn revealed his new strategy.

"We cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the North." Gimli snorted and gave Aragorn a dirty look.

"Oh, yes?! It's just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil. An impossible labyrinth of razor sharp rocks." Excuse me? More walking? Sharp rocks? "And after that, it gets even better!" Pippin and I looked at him in alarm. How could it get worse?! "Festering stinking marshes as far as the eye can see!" Gimli rested against his axe handle and glared at Aragorn. The man simply stared coldly at him.

"That would be our road. I suggest you rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf." He talked quietly with Legolas for a bit and the two started to make camp. Gimli blew off Aragorn's comment as Pippin and I snickered. Until I thought more about the marshes…and the rocks…and the walking. This was NOT fun! I turned to complain to Aragorn, when I noticed that two very important people were missing.

"Crap!" Legolas and Aragorn looked at me, startled. Legolas began to reprimand me, when Merry came in and confirmed what I knew to be true.

"Where's Frodo?" he asked, carrying a bundle of firewood in his hands. Aragorn looked around and Legolas shot me a quick look.

"Lena, you and the other three hobbits stay here. Gimli, Legolas, come!" they took off, and without missing a beat, I sprinted after them.

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"Go back!" Legolas yelled, "You have no idea what might happen. You cannot fight. This is no place for you!" I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly. He had been yelling that at me ever since Aragorn had broken apart from us to look for Frodo on his own. Our job was to track down Borimir.

"Why can't you be like other girls your age?" he yelled. I stuck my tongue out at him and drew my dagger.

"We're wasting time, Legolas. Borimir is out there. He wants the ring and Frodo is in danger. We can argue about this later," I yelled back. I sprinted through the woods, and after a moment I could hear Legolas and Gimli behind me as we called out Borimir's name over and over. That's when we heard the yelling and clattering of swords. The three of us looked at each other and took off running towards the noises. It got louder and louder until we burst into a clearing full of Uruks. Legolas drew his arrow and began shooting. Gimli started chopping down the uruk-hai. I tried to stay away from the fighting and instead searched for clues to Borimir. But the beasts noticed me sooner or later. I ran up onto the crumbling stone steps and hopped onto a column. Three closed in on it and started swiping weapons at my feet. I shrieked and jumped to avoid having my feet chopped off. One came up behind me and growled, it's putrid breath settling deep in my nostrils. I gagged and swung wildly at the uruk with my dagger. I missed, but I had also surprised it. It hesitated and I used the opportunity to sink the dagger into it's head.

"Oh my God! Ew ew ew ew ew!" I screamed, taking back my blade and gagging at the black blood smeared on it. And that's when I noticed the small crowd of Uruk-hai running down the hill. Faintly I could hear Merry and Pippin shouting. Panic seized me and I jumped off the column, momentarily being slowed down by the intense pain in my right ankle from my landing. I took off after the Uruks and suddenly...nothing.

There were no Uruk-hai. There was no Merry or Pippin. In fact, the terrain was different. I couldn't hear the sounds of the battle even though I should be no more than a few feet away. I ran through the woods, calling out the names of anyone in the fellowship I could think of.

"Legolas! Aragorn! Frodo! Pippin!" I screamed, becoming increasingly exhausted. Why did these woods look so familiar? I saw a clearing through the trees and shrieked with joy. And what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

People. Normal people. Wearing normal clothes form my time. It was a playground. A group of toddlers chased each other around the monkey bars. Mothers sat on benches watching their little ones play. A group of kids my age were over by a large elm tree smoking and trying not to let the park administrator see them taking sips out of a suspicious looking bottle. I knew this park! I knew it! I was back home!

"Yes! I'm back! I'm free! No more Elves or strudel bread or evil rings or walking for 5 straight hours! I'm back! Woot woot!" I threw down my dagger and launched into my happy dance (basically me jumping up and down and throwing in random disco moves), ignoring the looks I was getting from the mothers sitting on the benches. One even scooped up her little girl and hurried to another part of the park, casting a backwards glance at me. But I barely even noticed. I was free! I sprinted along the park path and took a shortcut through a thin group of trees and came to my backyard. Ami was scratching at the sliding glass door and whining, but perked up considerably when she saw me coming. I ran up to her and gave her a big hug, letting her lick my face and tackle me to the ground.

"Ami I missed you!" I shouted, pulling the fluffy retriever to me. And then I looked at the house. I had been gone for almost six months! Mom was going to freak out, if she hadn't already. I quietly let myself in stepped aside for Ami, who promptly ran straight to her water bowl.

"Hello? Hello? Mom?" I yelled. I looked around my kitchen and everything looked strange to me. I jumped a mile when the phone rang. "Hello?" I whispered into the speaker.

"Yes hello this is Mrs. Durer from the Thomas Jefferson High School attendance office. Is this Helena Papadopoulos?" I held the phone away from my ear and looked at the clock. It was 12:00 in the afternoon.

"Um yes."

"Oh hello dear. You didn't come to school today so I was calling to see where you were." I sank down in a kitchen chair, bewildered.

"I…I'm s-s-sorry, my mother must have forgotten to call you. I have the flu so I won't be coming in," I claimed. She had no trouble believing it. I had to force myself to speak louder than a whisper.

"Oh well that's fine, sweetie. Just bring in a note from your mother or father tomorrow."

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

"What is the date?" Mrs. Durer laughed.

"It is October 27" I sat there, stunned. October 27th? But that was the day I got sucked into Middle Earth. If that was true, I had only been gone for 6 hours! I hung up the phone without a word. Almost no time had passed since my journey. Like a zombie, I walked upstairs and filled up a bath. With running water. Hot running water. I piled my Elvish clothes in the middle on my floor. When I came back, got dressed, and brushed my hair, I sat on the edge of my bed and looked at myself in the mirror. I was thinner than I had been when I left and I went through what used to be my everyday routine in a sluggish daze. I wondered briefly what was happening in Middle Earth.

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It took some time for me to get back into my old routine. My old life seemed so shallow and pointless. My friends talked about shopping and the newest movies and the best new eye shadow they had found. But it was all meaningless in my eyes. I never told anyone about my time in Middle Earth. Who would have believed me? I got grounded for "skipping school" and had to serve a detention for it. It didn't matter. But after a month or so I started to become my usual self again. I started dressing nicer and caring more about the way I looked. I gave in to my friends' desperate pleas to hang out with them. My relationship with my family steadily improved. My dad and Nitsa even came back to D.C. to see me! My life got back to normal, but I knew I would never forget what had happened to me, and what I had left behind.


End file.
